


(heroes) we could be [hiatus; will be rewritten]

by pxtrichor



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Alternate Universe - My Hero Academia Fusion, Alternate Universe - Powers, Alternate Universe - Pro Heroes (My Hero Academia), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Gen, M/M, Multi, a bit slow starting but bear with me please, i mean it was partially inspired by bnha so yeah, im not telling you chan's power
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21768874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pxtrichor/pseuds/pxtrichor
Summary: CNA : Caratland News Agency[LIVE] Fight broken out between Hero Duo : First Responders and Villain Alliance : Chimera at Chungdol Ave., Ruby District. Level 3 Conflict, Residents in the Area to Stay Calm and React Accordingly.-Seungcheol glances at the TV, still blasting out the latest news, before meeting Jeonghan and Jisoo's eyes carefully.Jeonghan pretends to receive a call, before "hanging up" and smiling at their other friends. "Sorry guys, but our neighbours just got locked out of their house. Maybe we can continue this another time?"Seungkwan and Hansol let them go easily, and before long the trio are rushing into their hero gear. Jisoo tosses the other two their costumes, and they get dressed as quickly as possible. Then, Jeonghan is lifting Seungcheol by his waist, spreading blush-pink wings, and the two are in the air. Jisoo follows at their heels, his fine control of the wind allowing him to fly with all the elegance of an avian. Seungcheol adjusts his face mask one last time before Jeonghan drops him onto Chungdol Avenue - the Strength Hero : Champion is on the scene.-[UPDATE] Veteran Hero Group VICTORS arrive on Chungdol Ave., Chimera makes hasty retreat.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan & Choi Hansol | Vernon & Lee Chan | Dino, Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups & Hong Jisoo | Joshua & Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Jeon Wonwoo & Lee Jihoon | Woozi & Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Kim Mingyu & Xu Ming Hao | The8, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi & Lee Seokmin | DK, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Chan | Dino, Lee Jihoon | Woozi & Wen Jun Hui | Jun, OT13
Comments: 15
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

[07:27am, Monday, March 31st, 2XXX. #05-01 Bogsu Apartments, Ruby District, Caratland.]

Chan wakes up to crashing and screaming. For a second, he panics, thinking that their apartment block is under attack, but then: 

“HANSOL! KILL IT!”

“But it’s just a spider, I-”

“HANSOL I SWEAR TO GOD, I WILL INCINERATE IT _AND_ YOU-”

Chan’s best friends, Hansol and Seungkwan. Though they had been glued at the hip for most of their lives, the pair were almost opposites at first glance, with Hansol’s western features and Seungkwan’s more obviously oriental face; Seungkwan’s liveliness and vibrancy against the calm tranquility Hansol exuded. Even their powers seemed like polar opposites - Seungkwan’s ability, Abundance, let him absorb and control light, while Hansol’s power, Absence, let him solidify and control shadows.

Despite how different they seemed, Chan knew that his friends were more similar than people expected them to be, complementing each other almost perfectly. After all, without light, there could be no shadows, and vice versa.

The trio shared an apartment in what was easily the shittiest part of town, complete in all its poor, miserable filth. Though they were just 23 and 24, there were seven to eight jobs between them, and without some of Hansol and Seungkwan’s shadier jobs Chan knew that financially, they would be more than struggling to stay afloat. Chan had known them since he was five, though, and the pair were like his brothers - he’d much prefer a life in poverty with them by his side than be alone with all the riches in the world. 

“Seungkwan, I juST WANTED TO PUT THE SPIDER OUTSIDE WHY DID YOU SET ME ON FIRE-”

Even if they did pull the weirdest shit sometimes. 

Chan enters the living room, fidgeting with his gloves. There is surprisingly little death and destruction outside, considering who he stays with - just a slightly charred Hansol and very apologetic Seungkwan, and a not-actually-that-small burn mark on the dining table.

“Sorry, Sol, you know I don’t always have great control over the fire thing ... Chan, there’s breakfast on the table.” 

Hansol sighs as Chan takes a seat in front of already-toasted bread. “Kwan, this was my last good shirt. My boss is going to kill me if i turn up in something casual again.” 

Chan winces. Hansol’s receptionist job at a private hospital is the most well-paying in their household. If he got fired they would have to pick up the slack on their other jobs, not to mention how Hansol would have to find work again (not very easy when all you have under your name is a High School diploma and a series of blue-collar jobs). It would be a pity, too - for how much of neat freak his boss was, Chan knows Hansol really enjoys working at the hospital. It appears that Seungkwan had come to a similar realisation as his expression softened.

“Go call your coworker friend - Jisoo, was it? Tell him you’ll be running late. You can borrow one of my shirts, I’ll go get it.” He disappeared into their bedroom, leaving the other two in silence.

Hansol plonks into the chair opposite Chan, running a hand through light brown locks. He drags a mug of coffee towards him by its shadow, hands busy unbuttoning charred cloth. 

“You okay?” Chan asks, worried.

“Yeah, just tired. Seungkwan’s worse, though - you heard that massive explosion over a tiny spider, right? I think his boss at the cafe is giving him grief again, his stress levels are through the roof.”

“Bet he’s just jealous that Kwan’s power is better than his - what does he have again, minor attraction?”

Hansol laughs, pulling the last of his shirt off. “Yeah. And he doesn’t even have the control that Seungkwan has!”

When they had first moved in together five years ago, Seungkwan had just been figuring out how to harness his powers to turn the light he absorbed and emitted into flame control - accidents like this morning’s had been a near-daily ordeal for the trio then. Now, though, the eldest had more than enough mastery over his sort-of-pyrokinesis, and only really lost control in moments of high emotion.

Seungkwan emerges from his and Hansol’s room clutching a light green button-up, draping it over Hansol’s bare shoulders. The shadow user stands, bony hands buttoning it from the bottom, as the other helps to fasten the top. Chan watches the scene for a moment, but stands when he sees Seungkwan start to drag Hansol in for a kiss. 

“All right, I’m going to go now. Don’t be late again, Seungkwan!” 

The eldest huffs, as Hansol pulls at the shadows again. They come back bearing a flash of cool metal - “Don’t forget your keys again, Chan,” Hansol singsongs in retaliation. 

Amused, Chan picks them up from the silky shade. He lifts a hand in goodbye, smiling, before the door is closing and he is gone.

Seungkwan sighs fondly. “They grow up so fast.”

* * *

[09:38am, Monday, March 31st, 2XXX. Coups' Books, 95 Semyeon Street, Sapphire District, Caratland.]

“Welcome to Coups’ Books, how may I - oh, it’s just you.”

Wonwoo smiles from his position at the door. “What, nothing for your favourite employee?” 

Seungcheol grins back. “I have books to move out from the storage room, if that helps?”

“Only if it’s those copies of _The Mutant Gene: Mutations Powering Our Society_ I preordered for us. But come on, Seungcheol, we both know you don’t need any help with those boxes.”

“I’m demoting you from best employee!” 

Wonwoo smiles at the joking threat, picking up and re-shelving a nearby copy of _Heroes and How they Affect Justice_ as Seungcheol disappears into the back. He’s read it already, and the author’s opinions on Hero Society are brilliantly articulated. 

Seungcheol reappears with around three boxes in each arm, tied together with raffia string and picked up like they were empty. When he unloads them, Wonwoo sees that each one is brimming with fiction titles. Setting down his book, he bends down to help the shop’s owner slot them into their places on the bottom shelf. 

“Still want to demote me?” he smirks, but Seungcheol just rolls his eyes and grins.

“Hey, maybe I want to name Jeonghan or Jisoo as Best Employee.”

“They don’t even work here,” Wonwoo protests, but Seungcheol pretends to ignore him. “How are they, by the way?”

Seungcheol smiles softly, affectionate. “Jeonghan’s worried the coloring on his feathers is going to fade, and Jisoo keeps unhelpfully leaving pink dye around the house. His wings aren’t actually fading, by the way, but his hair dye is. In revenge, though, he stained a bunch of Jisoo’s work shirts pink - but I think Jisoo’s wearing them to the hospital anyways. How’s Mingyu?”

Wonwoo, who had listened quietly at the elder’s updates, sighs at the thought of his own lover. “Mingyu broke the last of our good mugs last night, so I’ve got to buy more later. He promised my favourite for dinner tonight as his apology, though - do you guys want to come over?”

Seungcheol shakes his head. “Nah, we’ve got Hero Duty - HQ called us in to guard the president’s address tonight. Enjoy the ramen, though.”

Now 27, Seungcheol had debuted as a hero at 21 in the first official hero group, VICTORS, as their leader Champion, utilizing his super strength for the greater good. Alongside Savior and Paladin - Jeonghan and Jisoo - he headlined many of Caratland’s newspapers over and over again for his heroic deeds, and continued to be one of the most revered heroes of the past decade. 

The country knows only his alter ego, the strength hero - Wonwoo feels honored to know him the way many people wouldn’t : as the dorky bookshop owner who loves cats and is beyond whipped for his two boyfriends, no matter how ironic it is. 

Wonwoo stops shelving to watch the man in front of him struggle to slot the books on the shelf together nicely. “Maybe you guys can join us next time - tell Jeonghan, Mingyu said he’d make jjigae the next time he comes over.” 

“Maybe … oi, go back to shelving!”

* * *

[12:03nn, Monday, March 31st, 2XXX. EZ Mart, 96 Heulishan Road, Amethyst District, Caratland.]

Jeonghan’s boss emerges from his flat above the minimart around noon - just in time to relieve his taller employee from the morning shift. 

“Go,” Jihoon mumbles, eyelids still weighed down with the air of one who has just woken up. “I’ll run the place.”

“Or you could close the store and come for lunch with me!” Jeonghan injects as much charmspeak as he can into his words - just enough to hypnotise a regular person, but not enough to out him as the angelic hero: Savior. 

As usual, though, Jihoon remains unaffected, emotions masked. Jeonghan sighs, disappointed - until he realises Jihoon is starting to lock up.

“Is that a yes? Jihoon-ah, I knew you’d come around!” Jeonghan cheers.

“If you’re going to be like that, the deal’s off,” Jihoon grunts. “It’s too early for you to be so … _alive_.”

Jeonghan just smiles. “Come on, don’t be like that. Where do you wanna go?”

“You pick. And stop being so happy.”

“Well, there's this cafe at the junction, Mint Breeze. I go all the time with Seungcheol and Jisoo - its jajangmyeon is to die for.”

“By all means then, lead the way.”

It is after Jihoon downs three black coffees and a whole bowl of jajangmyeon that one of the baristas ditches his partner behind the register and joins them, sliding neatly into their booth beside Jeonghan.

“Hi, Seungkwan,” greets Jeonghan. “Shouldn’t you be helping Mingyu before he breaks something?” 

“Oh, it’s a lull period - only you two in here - and I’m just popping by to say hello, anyways.”

Jeonghan glances over at the taller barista, recognizing Mingyu. He’s standing on a tall stool and fiddling with the blackboard boredly, so Jeonghan figures Seungkwan can stay.

“This is Jihoon, by the way - my boss at the minimart.” Jihoon quirks an eyebrow at Seungkwan.

“I know,” Seungkwan says. “Jihoon and I worked together for a while last June.”

This startles Jeonghan a little - he can’t picture Jihoon doing anything other than being grumpy and managing the minimart, let alone coexisting with loud, energetic Seungkwan for more than a few minutes.

Jihoon shoots Seungkwan a look that Jeonghan can’t decipher, before glancing at Jeonghan again. “Yeah. Multiple times, actually, over the last few years.”

“Cool,” Jeonghan says. “Small world, hunh?”

Seungkwan hums. “Maybe. Or maybe we just-MINGYU-!”

The other barista falls from his perch on the stool with a loud crash, dragging the blackboard behind the counter down with him. Seungkwan hurries over, and Jeonghan watches him fuss over the older boy.

“Mingyu, don’t stand on the stools, you know they’re wobbly … are you hurt anywhere? 

Their manager, Mr Lee, comes out from the back room. A pudgy dot of a man whose good-will had left him long before the cafe first opened, he seldom left his apartment above the store, preferring to “manage” the cafe from where he didn’t have to do anything. On the rare occasion that he did come down, though, he tended to take out any annoyances he had on his unsuspecting employees. Today, the unwilling sufferers appeared to be Mingyu and Seungkwan.

The manager summons a peach danish from the shelf. His power, Minor Attraction, was devastatingly common - yet somehow, he seemed to be less powerful than other users, and so it took a while before the pastry finds its way into his hand. Jeonghan nearly snickers at the visual, but the two boys on the floor look like Mr Lee would fire them if they so much as moved a muscle, so he held it in.

“What was that noise.”

“Uh, nothing, sir, just a little mistake when Mingyu and I were, er, cleaning the blackboard?”

The manager scowls at Seungkwan when he speaks. “Did I say you can talk, boy? Kim, speak up.”

“Yeah, it’s like Seungkwan said - just an accident.”

Mr Lee’s face scrunches up like he’d just smelt a truckload of rotten fish - Jeonghan finds it decidedly unattractive. “You children could have smashed up my signboards. Business is suffering enough as it is with _this_ at the counter. Bah, good-for-nothing light controller.” He waves a hand at Seungkwan, who flinches back. Mingyu looks like he wants to protest, but remains silent. 

Jeonghan decides to step in. Ignoring Jihoon hissing at him to sit back down, he strolls over. “Excuse me, sir, I don’t mean to intrude, but don’t you think you’re being a little unfair?”

The manager turns towards him. “And who are you, pink-haired brat?”

“Oh, just a concerned customer.” Jeonghan smiles. “A regular, actually, and I can say that having these two behind the counter has done _wonders_ for your business, especially your _continued_ business with most of your regulars.”

Mr Lee’s face purples. The manager opens his mouth, but before he can say anything-

“INCOMING!!” A yell from outside. 

The entrance wall explodes inwards, sending shattered glass and brick wall flying as the people inside the cafe shield themselves as best as they can. Jeonghan sees Mingyu shield Seungkwan, pulling him below the counter. Mr Lee throws himself to the ground in the turtle position (curled on the ground, hands laced at the back of his neck and arms shielding his head - just like all the government PSAs tell you to do in the case of a villain attack). Jihoon slides further behind the walls of his booth. 

Jeonghan himself had been in the center of the cafe, with no counter or booth walls to hide behind. Instead, he shielded himself with the pale pink wings now sprouting from his back. After years of hero work, the shift between Yoon Jeonghan and The Angelic Hero : Savior came easy - pushing rose-colored wings out from beneath his skin, letting rock-hard feathers cover his more squishy parts (face, chest, organs, other things that wouldn’t bear the brunt of an explosion very well). 

When he parts his wings from their protective positions encircling his body, he is greeted by the sight of a colossal tiger wrestling what looks like the lovechild of a cactus and a slug into the ground. The humongous feline is nearly as tall as Jihoon, orange-and-black coat shining under the mostly-destroyed cafe lights. 

Jeonghan is about to jump into the fray - until he recognises the tiger. Horang-i, one of Caratland’s more well-known heroes, had the power to morph any part of his body into any kind of feline - most notably, a massive tiger. Jeonghan been trained with him, so he knew exactly how devastatingly competent the slightly younger male was. 

Relaxing, Jeonghan lets his wings settle back into their resting positions, melting into tattoos on his back and leaving the back of his shirt ripped. Glancing around the cafe, it seems like none of the others had witnessed their appearance - too preoccupied watching the fight (Mingyu, Seungkwan and Jihoon), or cowering in a corner (Mr Lee). 

The tiger lets out an almighty roar as the cactus-slug drives long spikes into the soft of his paw, rearing upwards and nearly smashing his head into the ceiling. Jeonghan winces. He doesn’t think the building’s shoddy architecture could withstand another hit to its infrastructure. To his relief, though, Horang-i ends the fight quickly, morphing his injured paw back into a chubby palm and yanking out one of the nearly 20-cm long spikes, using it to pin the villain to the ground by his hands. The holes they leave behind fill in with red flesh, scabbing over in seconds. Jeonghan averts his eyes, but still manages to catch a trail of the blood that leaked from the wound, before it had healed. 

From there, the fight is relatively short-lived - Horang-i easily stuffing the cactus into handcuffs just as another pair of heroes arrive on the scene.

Jeonghan recognises them as Oceanus and Scorpio - the Wave Hero and the Constellation Hero. The former tended to team up with Horang-i on a regular basis, but the two hadn’t decided to become an official Hero Duo (too lazy to deal with the paperwork, it seemed). Oceanus could usually be seen patrolling the main roads, making him and his water tricks quite popular among the citizens of Caratland. Jeonghan knew he _was_ , actually, equally charismatic in real life - if the boisterous laughter and sunshine smiles he caught glimpses of at hero HQ were anything to go by.

Scorpio, on the other hand, was part of First Responders - one of the slightly less well-known Hero Duos in the area. His power let him draw on the power of the stars for the shining attacks he was best known for, which usually resembled whatever had been in the sky that night. His partner, Wreck King, was more notably unique with his power, Automation, which allowed him to control cars and their parts. With Wreck King’s mobility, the pair were never late to the party when there was an attack in the area.

Jeonghan was actually friends with the Duo as both heroes and regular citizens, having mentored them for a while when they first started - which is why he knew why Wreck King hadn’t been with Scorpio during this whole mess. Mingyu, the taller of the Duo, had been behind the cafe counter partially shielding his coworker from the attack.

Jeonghan watches as Oceanus lifts the cactus into a bubble of water, rolling him out of the store. His control over the water is impeccable, not a drop out of place as he guides the now-immobilised villain out of the cafe via the hole in the wall. Mingyu gives Scorpio a nod before starting to fuss over Seungkwan, who had been cut across the cheek with one of the glass shards. Jihoon stares at Oceanus’s retreating back as he leaves with Horang-i, as Mr Lee starts to get up from his position on the floor, visibly shaken. Jeonghan walks over, extending a hand to help, but the manager ignores him, lifting himself up with great effort. 

Jeonghan surveys the damage done to the cafe. A good part of the entrance wall is demolished, brick and glass from the windows strewn all over the wooden floor. The square tables are also wrecked, some crushed by the brawl that took place and some flattened by pieces of wall and, in one case, a falling light. The booths on one end of the cafe remain mostly untouched, except for all the brick dust, glass shards and wooden splinters, but a ceiling beam has fallen and made a sizeable dent in the counter, boxing Mingyu and Seungkwan in. It has also taken with it a whole row of ceiling lights, which managed to narrowly miss the people in the area. 

“Which one of you is the owner?” Scorpio asks.

Mr Lee raises a shaking hand.

“Do you have this place insured anywhere?”

A shake of the head. Scorpio frowns.

“There’s very little I can do to help, then. Try submitting a report at any police station, though, and I’ll take a look at what HQ says about the damage. Sorry.”

Mr Lee just stares numbly.

Scorpio fidgets on the spot for a second, before bowing. “I’ll take my leave now. Thank you for understanding.”

Then he’s out the door, white coattails fluttering in his wake.

The cafe is silent for a second, before Mr Lee summons one of the few intact chairs, collapsing into it. He surveys the remains of his cafe before shakily pointing towards the gaping exit.

“Go,” is all he says. “All of you, go.”

Seungkwan. “But, boss-”

“GO!” The man yells. “AND NEVER COME BACK!”

Jeonghan sees the two younger boys freeze for a second before scurrying to the back room to collect their belongings. Turning to Jihoon, he sees that the shorter male had gathered up their things and was waiting at the wall-hole for him. Hesitating for a second, he glances back at Mr Lee, slumped in the chair and staring pathetically at the damage. 

“Come on, Jeonghan, lets go.” Jihoon calls and Jeonghan leaves him there, a broken man, stepping out of the wall-hole and heading back to the minimart.

_"What happened to your shirt?"_

_"Must have been from the explosion."_

* * *

[01:23pm, Monday, March 31st, 2XXX. Hero HQ, 83 Achasan Road, Emerald District, Caratland.]

Seokmin has barely changed out of his Oceanus getup after patrol before Soonyoung is dragging him and Minghao back to Hoshi Dance School - jointly managed by Seokmin and Soonyoung, as well as the main source of their income besides hero work. 

“Come on, Minghao, I know you haven’t met the new instructors Seokmin and I hired yet, hurry up!” Out of costume, the fearsome Tiger Hero is ridiculously cute - snarling feline face replaced with slanted eyes and squishy cheeks. On the other hand, Scorpio’s alter ego just as elegant, sharp nose, jawline and dark hair making him easily the most poised out of the three of them.

As the three of them pile into Seokmin’s car, Soonyoung continues to chat their ears off about the new instructors. “I think you’ll really like Channie, Hao, he’s really good at contemporary - and he’s really good with the kids, honestly, what a catch, why-”

“Soonyoung, let me meet him for myself, I’m sure he won’t have magically disappeared before we get to the studio - unless there’s anything particularly _special_ you want to tell me about, ah, _Channie_.”

Seokmin snickers from his spot in the front. In the rear view mirror, he can see Soonyoung pouting from where he sits in the back.

“I-what-I don't have a crush on Chan!”

Minghao smirks. “I never said anything about a crush.”

Soonyoung starts turning pink as Seokmin cackles. He could picture it though, Soonyoung with the fresh-faced dance instructor - they would look good together, he thinks, and tells Soonyoung as much.

Soonyoung morphs a hand into a claw and swipes at Seokmin’s front with kitten paws. “Shut up, you ingrate - go drown in a puddle somewhere.”

Minghao snickers at that (Seokmin can breathe underwater perfectly fine, thank you very much!) as the car pulls into the small parking lot in front of Hoshi Dance School. They’re there a good hour before any of the kids arrive, so Seokmin thinks they've got enough time to spend with the new instructors before they’d have to start work properly. 

Pushing open the glass door, and walking through the air-conditioned halls, he is pleased to find that Chan and the other new instructor, Jun, have already arrived and started warming up in the biggest dance studio. Seokmin goes to leave his and Soonyoung’s things in the back room. 

When he comes back, Soonyoung and Minghao have joined the other dancers. He watches for a second as they stretch in comfortable silence, two on the floor, two at the barre running along one of the walls, before entering the room.

“Okay,” he calls. “Staff meeting, come sit down when you’re done with your dance-y, stretch-y stuff.”

It isn’t long before the four dancers assemble in a messy circle facing him, and Seokmin begins the ( _very official, of course_ ) full-staff meeting. 

“Thanks for being on time and stuff today, guys, it means a lot to us. Now, I know there’s only five of us here today - but both Jun and Chan are new, and you two haven’t met Minghao - so today we’ll just handle introductions? Another day I can brief you on the new teaching schedule and discuss our plans for the June showcase. ” He glances to his left at Soonyoung for confirmation, before continuing. “Right, uh, I’m Seokmin, and I co-own the studio with Soonyoung. I usually just handle the management and stuff, though, ‘cos I’m not really a dancer. If I’m not at home or at my other job, I’m in the studio office, so feel free to hit me up if you need help with anything or you wanna go out or something. Soonyoung?”

The older boy starts a little as his name is called, but regains composure seamlessly. “Hi, I’m Soonyoung! But you can call me Soon,” he winks at the others assembled. No one laughs, but Minghao exhales harshly through his nose and seems to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Soonyoung continues his introduction. “I run the more artistic part of the studio - choreography and classes and such - so you can usually find me here too. I teach the 4-6 year olds, the classes for Contemporary B, Hip-Hop A and beginners Ballet. Oh! And before I forget to tell you, if you see a cat in the studios or anywhere in the premises here - it’s probably me. Please don’t chase me out of my own place.”

He turns a hand into a calico-colored paw. “It's my power, Feline. Seokmin probably forgot to tell you his, so in case it shocks you - it’s Minor Hydrokinesis. Makes him a good water boy during late-night practices.” Soonyoung laughs, but Seokmin has to force a smile. He’d always hated hiding the real strength of his power, Rough Waves. Unfortunately, it was mandatory if he wanted to keep helping people as Oceanus - another one of the rules Hero HQ enforced. 

Minghao starts to introduce himself. “Hi, I’m Xu Minghao, I b-boy, I teach the 7-12 year olds, intermediate Ballet, Contemporary A and Hip-Hop B. My power is Stars.” 

Holding up a finger, Minghao let a small stream of shining sparks erupt from the tip before putting it back down. “These stars can be painful to the touch sometimes, so I advise that you don't try to startle me in any way.”

After that _very_ toned-down display of his power, it is clear that Minghao is done with his (admittedly brusque) introduction, so Seokmin nods at Chan to start. 

“Hello everyone! I’m Chan, and I’m twenty-three,” He laughs, unsure. Soonyoung smiles at him and he seems to gain a bit more confidence. “If that's even relevant. Uh, I dance contemporary, so from today on I’ll be assisting with the Hip-hop and Contemporary A classes, and I’ll help Soonyoung with the 4-6es and beginners Ballet. My power…” He trails off, fidgeting with the archer’s gloves he wore. Made of brown leather, they covered only Chan’s third and fourth fingers, leaving the thumb, index and pinky bare. Cutting off at the wrist, the bottom of the glove had two snap buttons sewn on, presumably to let Chan take them off easily. There was a ring on his right pinky, a simple silver band with a triangular diamond symbol engraved on the flat side. 

Seokmin briefly wondered what it meant to the young dancer, but snapped back to attention when he started speaking again. “I’m not comfortable sharing more about my power now, but maybe when we know each other better.”

With an earnest smile, he gestures that Jun should begin.

“Hi guys! My name is Moon Junhui, but you can just call me Jun. I’m trained in ballet, but I branched out to a more urban style a while ago. I’ll be teaching the 7-12 year olds’ classes with Minghao, helping the B classes and taking over the advanced ballet course. My power is Shade, and it lets me turn invisible for a short period of time.” To demonstrate, he disappears for a second, before reappearing quickly.

Seokmin smiles, clapping his hands together. “Noice! Now that everyone’s acquainted, can I leave y’all in here until the kids come?” He makes to leave, but pops back in not a second later. “I almost forgot! Today’s program is on the bulletin board, if you need to check, but - lock-up is at 10, but if you want to stay in later you can look for me at reception, I have the keys.” 

He pops back out, heading to his spot at the front desk, and in the distance he can hear Soonyoung telling the new dancers about their system - every day when the studio opens, they like to hold a short Staff Meeting to discuss upcoming projects and … stuff (usually he, Soonyoung and Minghao end up gossiping about Hero Work and all the rumors floating around HQ and the Underground ; Seokmin supposes that will have to stop now that Jun and Chan have joined them). At the end, Seokmin goes over the classes everyone has for the day, and reminds them of whatever they tell him to remind them of. It makes him feel a little like a secretary, but he’s okay with that. 

The 7 to 12 year olds start streaming in not long after, going in to Jun and Minghao’s joint classes. An hour later, the 4 to 6 year olds (and assorted parents) come in too, and Seokmin has fun interacting with the adorable toddlers before Soonyoung and a shy Chan hustle them into Studio 2. The 7 to 12ves leave at 5, and at 5:30 Jun and Minghao leave to grab dinner from some hole-in-the-wall Hainanese place Minghao likes. Seokmin can’t ditch his spot so he badgers them to take away Chicken Rice for him. He eats it when they come back forty-five minutes later with five packets of rice and a chopped-up roast chicken. Soonyoung and Chan join them in the back room when the last of the kids leave at 6:30. At 7:15, they return to their various posts to prepare for the Contemporary classes, and Seokmin returns to the front desk to see the first of their students trickle in. They’re all in class by 7:30, so Seokmin busies himself with paperwork from today’s arrests as Oceanus until around 9:30, when the Contemporary classes let out. He makes small talk with the students as they prepare to leave, and at 10 pops his head into the studios. 

In Studio One, Chan and Minghao are lying sprawled on the floor, mumbling to each other about one of their students as music plays softly in the background. Seokmin wants to bend the liquid from their water bottles into their faces, but decides that it risks his cover too much. In Studio Two, Jun and Soonyoung are mopping up, resetting the studio to its usual pristine conditions for the night. None of the four wanted to stay past closing time, so Seokmin tells them to finish cleaning the studios quickly so that he can lock up.

Seokmin heads to the back room, grabbing his keys and stuff before heading back to Studio One. Chan and Minghao have just started mopping the floor, so he grabs an extra mop to help out. They’re done in record time, finishing around 10:15. Soonyoung and Jun are on one of the benches outside the school, chatting idly as they wait for the other three. 

Emerging from the now-dark school, Seokmin greets them with a smile before bending down to lock the glass doors. Soonyoung stands, heading over. “I guess we’ll be going now, then. Minghao, Jun, Chan, do any of you need a ride home? It’s pretty late.”

Minghao shakes his head. “Nah, I’m going to walk over to Wonwoo’s work and we’ll head home together. You know we live in a different direction from you anyways.”

Jun inhales sharply when Minghao mentions his housemate. “Wonwoo? You know Jeon Wonwoo? Tall, deep voice, blind as fuck without his glasses?”

Minghao nods. “Yeah, we share an apartment - me, him and his boyfriend. You know him?”

Jun smiles. It looks a little off, but Seokmin can’t place why. “Yeah. Small world, hunh.” 

Seokmin wants to prod at his reaction, but Soonyoung is already talking to Chan. “What about you? Anyone coming to pick you?”

Chan bites his lip. “Well no… where are you guys heading, though? I’ll come with if you stay near me.”

“Ruby District. But it’s a bit of a shithole, so you probably don’t stay there. Soonie and I don’t mind dropping you elsewhere, though.” Seokmin replies.

Chan blinks, then smiles. “Funny, I actually stay there too. Bogsu Apartments, Pyeong-An Street - it’s a little far from the main roads so you can drop me at a nearby bus stop or something.”

Soonyoung and Seokmin share a look for a second, before Soonyoung breaks into a grin, slinging an arm across Chan’s shoulders. “Oh, we’ll send you there all the way. Might even walk you to your door, for how near you stay to us - Seokmin and I stay in the building across from yours. Pyeonghwa Residence sound familiar?”

Chan is visibly shocked for a second, but laughs all the same. “Wow, it really is a small world!” 

Seokmin smiles at the pair, before turning to Minghao and Jun. “Well, we better get going - you guys sure you don’t want a ride?”

The pair look up from where they had been involved in their own discussion. Jun waves him off. “I’m good. I’ll walk with Minghao, we're going in the same direction until the junction. I’ll see you tomorrow, though!”

They say their goodbyes, before Jun and Minghao are splitting off, walking in the direction of the nearest train station. Soonyoung and Chan are heading over to the car, and Seokmin can see them chatting eagerly about something or other. Struck with a sudden pang of loneliness, Seokmin stands still for a second, breathing in the silent air of the city. Then, Soonyoung is calling, and Seokmin is smiling again, ready to drive them home.

* * *

[01:48 am, Tuesday, April 1st, 2XXX. Apartment above EZ Mart, 96 Heulishan Road, Amethyst District, Caratland.]

Jun slams the apartment door open at about 1am, and Jihoon is already Tired of what he’s excited about this time. He’s already planning their next heist - after all, what kind of supervillains would they be if they didn’t commit Crime every now and then - at a jewellery store, and he doesn’t really want to entertain any of Jun’s weird ideas. 

Until he utters those three words that Jihoon’s been waiting on for the past four years. 

“I found Wonwoo.”

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

[01:48 am, Tuesday, April 1st, 2XXX. Apartment above EZ Mart, 96 Heulishan Road, Amethyst District, Caratland.]

Once upon a time, there were three brothers, shunned by society because of their pasts. Swearing to wreak havoc on the world that had snubbed them for so long, they formed the villain association Chimera, rising to the most feared felons within Caratland in little more than a year. The people, civilian and criminal alike, trembled below them, and they reveled in the knowledge that they could not be bested by anyone brought in to tame them. 

The first brother, Phantom, was the most knowledgeable. Gifted with the power Shade, he could turn invisible at will, and pass through things like light through a window. Often he would linger in their enemies bases, gathering plans and weaknesses to wield during their next battle. Light fingered and intelligent, his power made him the best spy and thief. 

The second brother, Revenant, was the most powerful. He had been blessed with Spectre - giving him the ability to summon, communicate with and control the dead. He could crack pavements with the strength of the rotting ghouls he summoned, and the newly animate corpses would do his bidding with no hesitation. Calm in the face of perilous danger, his combat skills were unrivalled in Caratland, and he was the strongest pillar of their offensive.

The third and youngest brother, Wraith, was the most cunning. The power Stunner had been bestowed upon him, allowing him to draw on the energy of nearby objects and living things to power up his telepathic spell attacks. He was the leader and strategist in their team, wiliness allowing him to come up with intricate yet simple plans, leaving their enemies in the dust.

Together they held Caratland in the palm of their hands - until VICTORS came onto the scene. Champion, the Strength Hero. Savior, the Angelic Hero. Paladin, the Wind Hero. The first official hero group, they were the only ones with power rivalling the brothers’. Phantom’s wisdom outclassed by Paladin’s infinite knowledge, Revenant’s power defeated by Champion’s impossible strength, Wraith’s schemes outdone by Savior’s sharp slyness.

One fateful day, the three brothers were cornered by the three heroes. Wraith’s conniving plan had fallen apart, Phantom was trapped with an injured leg, and Revenant was dominated by the onslaught of attacks from the heroes. Still, though, they fought on, but Phantom’s invisibility was no use when he could not run, Revenant’s attacks no use when they were healed by Savior, Wraith’s spells no use when they were harmless with nothing more to draw energy from. 

One by one, they were cut down. Wraith fell to an attack from Paladin’s wind. Phantom was clubbed round the back of his head by one of Savior’s wings. And Revenant was left alone to face Champion alone. As the last of the undead forces he summoned were vanquished by his foe’s unending strength, he began to grow desperate. In a moment of panic, he reached out and grasped an injured civilian nearby, planning to take her hostage - but she turned before their very eyes, the soul leaving her body as she became another dead puppet, ready to do Revenant’s bidding. All with a single touch.

Overcome with fear of his own powers, Revenant let out one last blast of power, resurfacing thousands of the undead beneath the ground - more than he could even have dreamed of summoning before, and disappeared in the ensuing chaos. Wraith and Phantom woke up the next day in their hideout, but Revenant - along with any trace of his existence - was gone.

The remaining two brothers tried their best to continue on without him, but their power waned without Revenant amongst them. Though they were still one of the top villains in Caratland, they were soon overtaken by the duo VENGEANCE, and were forced to collaborate with them on larger-scale attacks. And so, it seemed, the villain team Chimera would remain - dusty and cast-aside in comparison to their former glory - until now. 

“What do you mean, you ‘found Wonwoo’?” Jihoon nearly yells, slamming his palms down onto the table in front of him. He has laid out various papers, amongst which is the floor plan of a high-end jeweller’s, in preparation of Chimera’s next heist. The rest of the apartment is in similar disarray, with newspapers and various floor plans from previous missions blu-tacked onto the walls haphazardly, and other mission-relevant artefacts discarded in random places around the room. Dominating the room, though, are papers upon papers upon papers - of simple things like what Jihoon needed to buy to stock up the mart, to pages from directories with hero patrol routes scribbled on them, to stolen government documents nicked from the desks of some very important people.

Jun lifts a box of in-ear radios, setting it on the floor, before flopping into the space they used to occupy on the couch. “I don’t know, man, I just...found him.”

“Like, with your invisibility? Tracked him down after all these years?”

“No, I-” Jun puts his feet up on the couch, curling in on himself a little. “I ran into someone who knows him today. I started this teaching job at Hoshi Dance School today, remember? Yeah, one of my colleagues is his roommate.”

There is a long silence as Jihoon waits for him to continue. He doesn’t know how to feel - glad that there is a chance at getting Wonwoo back, sad that he’d chosen to stay away, or angry all over again that he’d left them in the first place.

“He’s got a new life now, you know? Got a boyfriend and all - their other roommate. He’s still the same person, though, if what Minghao tells me about him is anything. A little broody, but quietly funny - you know.”

Jihoon looks up, meeting Jun’s eyes. “If he’s really the same...do you think we can get him to come back?”

Jun shrugs, but Jihoon sees through his nonchalant facade. Sees the spark in his eyes that means there’s hope, and allows himself to believe that there can be three of them again.

In the four years since Wonwoo’s disappearing act, Chimera gave way to the duo VENGEANCE - a pair with ridiculously complementary powers that seemed to be able to do everything that Chimera couldn’t. With Wonwoo back though, Chimera would be able to claim the title of “Greatest Threat to Hero Society” yet again.

And maybe, just maybe, Jihoon missed Wonwoo more than he’d like to admit. He missed the serenity that often occupied their moments together, missed how he brought out the playful side in Jihoon and the calmer side in Jun, missed his sense of humor, his way of making the mood lighter with his bad puns, the way he horsed around with Jun, the way he indulged in Jihoon’s oft-obsessive planning. After all, they had been best friends, and it hurt that Wonwoo would just leave without a word.

Jun doesn’t reply to Jihoon’s question for a long while. Jihoon thinks he’s really thinking it over, but when he looks over, he finds that Jun has fallen asleep on the couch. More fondly amused than offended, Jihoon grabs a blanket from his bedroom and covers the taller boy, before going back to his jewellery store robbery plans.

(And maybe starts thinking about all the things he wants to tell Wonwoo when they meet again, but _that_ will stay buried for now.)

* * *

[12:48 nn, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2XXX. Caratland General Hospital, 1 Hospital Way, Sapphire District, Caratland.]

Hansol is keying the undigitized patient files from that day into the system when he senses someone come up to the front desk. Jisoo is gossiping with some nurses to the side and being generally unhelpful, so he half-heartedly rattles out a greeting in his best customer service voice, not bothering to look up from his paperwork.

“Welcome to Caratland General Hospital, how may I help you?”

“Well, I’m looking for someone, actually. I think you might be able to help.”

Absentmindedly, Hansol replies, mind still on _why Dr. Kim can’t have better handwriting, goddamnit, why does digitising the old man’s papers have to be so hard_. 

“Staff or Patient?”

“Staff.” The person’s voice is achingly familiar, voice betraying a hint of laughter. 

Hansol looks up. “Boo.”

“Chwe.” Seungkwan grins back, and Hansol can’t suppress a smile. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know,” Seungkwan shrugs. “Never been to your workplace here before, wanted to check it out - and hey, I was conveniently free!”

He smiles at Hansol again, but Hansol knows how much Seungkwan is hurting inside. Usually at this time Seungkwan would be at his barista job, but he’d been fired yesterday after an inconvenient attack had decimated the cafe he worked at. Normally Hansol would be happy he’d finally left - Seungkwan’s boss was a terrible person - but he knew how much financial stress their household was under. With Chan dropping his convenience store job to pursue a teaching career at a dance school (which would pay well eventually, but meant that Chan was earning way less for now), and Seungkwan recently having been laid off at his factory job, and the two eldest already trying to cover up how much they were struggling so Chan wouldn’t feel guilty about taking his dream job…

“Well, what do you think about the hospital, then?”

Seungkwan stuffs his hands into his hoodie pockets, looking around. The reception area is spacious, all cream walls and linoleum floors. The people occupying green couches in one corner are all experiencing different bouts of emotion - a man with his head buried in his hands, a couple anticipating their first gynecologist appointment, an old lady waiting anxiously for her husband to come out of surgery. In the other corner, a large television has been mounted onto the wall. Switched to the local news station _(“-Monday’s mass Level 2 attack destroyed businesses and homes alike in the Amethyst District. The assumed ringleaders were apprehended by dispatched heroes including Horang-1, Oceanus and First Responders’ Scorpio. The-)_ , and the benches on each side of it are occupied by tired hospital staff.

“It’s...clean.” Seungkwan finally says. 

“Clean? Really? That’s all you have to say?”

Seungkwan turns back to Hansol, pout audible in his whine. “Yah, I’m not an interior designer, what did you want me to say? Besides, being clean is important for a hospital!”

Hansol laughs. “Sure.”

Seungkwan leans back against the reception counter, sliding into an impression of some actor Hansol can only vaguely remember. “Now what's a nice boy like you doing in a place like this? You should be somewhere better...like on a lunch date with me.”

Hansol smiles at his antics. “Are you sure that’s a better place?”

Seungkwan’s lip twitches, breaking his attempt at a suave facade. “Just tell me when your shift ends, Sol.”

“Well, I get off in 10 minutes, but I’m going for lunch with Jisoo at this cafe/bookstore hybrid his boyfriend owns - I’m _finally_ going to meet his boyfriends, so if you want you can come along too.”

“Yeah, okay then. I want to meet this Jisoo too.”

“Alright then,” Hansol beams. “Let me tell him-”

He turns to where Jisoo had been talking with the nurses earlier, but it appears that he has disappeared into the back room. Shrugging, he turns back to Seungkwan.

They stay there, chatting, until his shift ends at 12, and Jisoo reemerges from the back room. 

“Hey, Hansol, ready to go?”

Hansol grabs his bag from under his desk. “Yeah, just give me a second to clock out. By the way, this is Seungkwan, my boyfriend. He’s joining us for lunch, if that’s okay. Seungkwan, Jisoo.”

“Oh! Jisoo - I didn’t expect to see you here.” Seungkwan smiles at the older boy.

“Same to you, Seungkwan - pity about the cafe, by the way. You doing alright? Jeonghan says it was just a level 1 attack, but they can still be quite traumatic.”

“You know each other?” Hansol, returning, asks them.

“Yeah, Jisoo and his boyfriends were the regulars I told you about, at the cafe. ” Seungkwan replies as they head towards the cafe/bookstore for lunch. “One of them, Jeonghan, was actually there at the attack yesterday.” 

“Sick,” Hansol replies. “So you _know_ all three of them already?”

Seungkwan nods, and Hansol mentally links the dots. Oh. Okay.

“Why, jealous?” Jisoo smirks, completely unaware of the silent messages Hansol and Seungkwan are sending each other. “Don’t worry, we haven’t got space for Seungkwan in our bed."

Hansol shoves him lightly. “Oh, shut up.” 

The rest of the walk to the bookstore-cafe is filled with comfortable teasing (mostly at Hansol’s expense). When they reach their destination, though, Hansol takes Seungkwan’s hand in his. A reminder. Seungkwan shoots him a grateful look, before plastering on a smile and stepping into the cafe behind Jisoo.

The store, named “Coups’ Books”, is cozy. Each wall is covered by bookshelves from floor to ceiling, and each wooden table is flanked by soft-looking couches in muted yellows and reds and browns. On one of the shelves, a TV sits, muted, but tuned to the local news station. True to the “Closed” sign in the window, the cafe is empty, with only two men inside.

The first has dark hair and large, doe-y eyes, with arms and thighs that ripple with strength. The other has fading pink hair, a thin build and light, fairylike features. Together they would be an imposing couple, if not for the fact that the former was passionately singing along to the radio as he prepared iced tea and the latter was draped dramatically across a nearby couch, playing with his phone upside down. Jisoo walks over to them, dropping chaste kisses on each of their cheeks before going to help the dark-haired man with the meal prep.

Hansol idles nervously in the doorway for a moment, but Seungkwan pulls him over to the couch where the slim, pretty man is righting himself, rearranging his bangs. Seungkwan plops himself and Hansol onto the couch opposite the man, who smiles brightly at him. “Seungkwannie~ Nice to see you again! Who’s this cutie you’ve got?

Hansol blinks, surprised, but Seungkwan just rolls his eyes, amused. “Jeonghan, keep your hands to yourself. This is Hansol, my boyfriend.” 

Jeonghan’s face seems to light up. “Ah, the boyfriend. You must be Jisoo’s coworker, Hansol, right? Amazing how we all know one another.”

Seungkwan makes eye contact with Hansol. It is obvious (at least, to Hansol it is) that he is also thinking about the conversation they’d had the previous night. Hansol nods back once, before extending a hand to Jeonghan. 

“Yeah, I’m Hansol. Nice to meet you.”

They make light small talk until Jisoo returns with who he introduces as Seungcheol, and the five settle down to eat. 

(The iced tea and spaghetti is perfect, but Hansol can’t stop himself from feeling on edge the entire meal long.)

* * *

[01:55 pm, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2XXX. Coups' Books, 95 Semyeon Street, Sapphire District, Caratland.]

Seungcheol decides that he likes Hansol and Seungkwan almost immediately. They’re both charismatic and friendly, and Jisoo and Jeonghan seem to be quite close to each of them respectively already. 

Before long, their food is gone. With the people in the shop seemingly reluctant to leave, Seungcheol lets them continue their conversation for a while even though he really should be locking up the store lest people think they're open. 

His phone buzzes. 

_NOTIFICATION FROM CNA : Caratland News Agency _

_[LIVE] Fight broken out between Hero Duo : First Responders and Villain Alliance : Chimera at Chungdol Ave., Ruby District. Level 3 Conflict, Residents in the Area to Stay Calm and React Accordingly._

_ NOTIFICATION FROM CHQ : Caratland Hero HQ  _

_[THREAT : LEVEL 3] Hero Group VICTORS to assist Duo First Responders at intersection between Chungdol Ave. and Jeontu St., Ruby District ASAP._

Seungcheol glances at the TV, blasting out the same breaking news, before meeting Jeonghan and Jisoo's eyes carefully. 

Jeonghan smoothly fake-receives a call, before "hanging up" and smiling at their new friends. "Sorry guys, but our neighbours just got locked out of their house. Maybe we can continue this another time?"

Seungkwan and Hansol seem taken in by the lie, and leave quickly and gracefully, letting the trio at the cafe to “lock up”. Which they do, but before long they find themselves in the top floor of the penthouse above the cafe, undressing and redressing at top speed. 

Seungcheol tosses the other two their costumes, and they get dressed as quickly as possible. 

For Jeonghan, there is a sleek blue-and-silver suit covering him from head to toe, leaving only his hands, which he needs to heal with, and his head uncovered. His cotton-candy pink wings stretch out beautifully behind him, deceptively strong feathers firm as the advanced metal of his suit. His face is covered by a partially transparent mask the same shade as his wings, and when it is turned on Seungcheol knows that the tech integrated into it will help Jeonghan scan the area for threats and civilians needing help more efficiently, as well as contact the other two (and HQ) with maximum efficiency.

Jisoo is clothed in stylized robes colored a shade of striking sky blue, with bronze lining and embroidery. Deceptively soft-looking, Seungcheol knows that the elegant piece is actually strong enough to stop bullets, and has saved Jisoo time and time again when his wind control powers couldn't. As a mask, Jisoo has a bronze-plated sheet covering from his eyebrows and ending in a slash across his cheekbones. Seungcheol knows that it functions much like Jeonghan’s, except with an added feature - it tells Jisoo the weather too, in case he needs to use his wind powers to manipulate the clouds for whatever reason.

Seungcheol himself is dressed much like the gladiators of old - with a leather-and-gold breastplate, shin, shoulder, and wrist guards. Unlike the Romans, however, Seungcheol has forgone the skirt-like bottom piece for a pair of dark tights that stretch over his dangerous thighs. There is also a deep blue cape that drapes smoothly across his chest and back. It is made of a blend between the materials used on Jisoo’s robes and Jeonghan’s suit, and Seungcheol finds that he quite likes this reminder that his boyfriends have got his back, no matter how cheesy it is. Lastly, there is a gold helmet that serves the same purpose as Jisoo and Jeonghan's masks - to aid him in combat and rescues, and to conceal his identity from the general public. 

When they're finished dressing, the trio heads out onto the balcony, and Jisoo locks the door, hiding the key under the mat they keep there. Then, Jeonghan is lifting Seungcheol by his waist, spreading blush-pink wings, and the two are in the air. Jisoo follows at their heels, his fine control of the wind allowing him to fly with all the elegance of an avian. The city is beautiful from his bird’s eye view, and Seungcheol is reminded yet again why he protects it with such passion. 

He adjusts his face mask one last time before Jeonghan drops him onto Chungdol Avenue - the Strength Hero : Champion is on the scene.

* * *

[12:57 pm, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2XXX. Chungdol Avenue, Ruby District, Caratland.]

Scorpio had been on patrol two streets away when the whole commotion started. Once he heard the cry of _Thief! Heroes - help!_ , he was nudging Wreck King into action, and the two were at the scene of the crime in less than a minute. 

By chance, they catch Chimera preparing to take off in a back alley behind the just-robbed jewellery store. The pair are trying to make their getaway on a pair of motorbikes chained to the exposed pipes on the wall. Probably to prevent their theft, Scorpio thinks. It was wise of the owners to do that, seeing as two of Caratland’s most wanted seemed ready to use them for their escape. 

Scorpio sends a constellation-studded attack at them. The one he recognises as Phantom dodges the attack, inadvertently moving further from the bikes. His companion, Wraith, hangs behind him. He has not touched the bikes. 

“These aren't yours.” Scorpio says, voice steady. 

Phantom tilts his head. Behind his wine-colored mask, round eyes sparkle with mirth. “Well, actually, they are. I’d show you my license for proof, but I don't feel like revealing my identity today… what do you think, Wraith?” 

“I think he was talking about the obviously stolen diamonds you're holding,” Wraith deadpans. 

“Wha-No, I was talking about the bikes. Why would I need to state the obvious?”

“HA! Take that, Wraith. The _hero_ agrees with me.” 

Wreck King speaks up from behind. “This is nice and all, but can we get on with it?”

Phantom seems to sigh disappointedly. “Aww, but Scorpio and I were getting along so well...you're a shit wingman, by the way, Wraith.”

The shorter villain rolls his eyes, then lunges for the bikes. Wreck King extends his power to the bikes, and one of them explodes outwards, zooming towards and pinning Wraith to the opposite wall. 

Scorpio positions himself in front of the remaining bike as Phantom turns invisible, but is quickly distracted as Wraith’s restraints dissolve around him - it appears that he had sent a dizzying spell at Wreck King, who lost his control of the bike parts. 

Scorpio sends a glowing attack at Wraith, who grits his teeth at the wave of painful heat that the stars injure him with. He falls to his knees, clutching the point of impact, and Wreck King moves to capture him. Unfortunately, the beauty of law enforcement and justice is interrupted by one of the motorbikes seemingly coming to life. Scorpio sends a wave of stars at the bike, but the Phantom swerves and avoids it. Wraith sends another dizzying attack at Wreck King, who remains incacipated for long enough that Phantom can scoop Wraith onto the bike with him and zoom out of the alley. Scorpio sends one last glimmering stream of sparks at them, but it misses their rear end by a hair. 

Scorpio rushes to Wreck King’s side where the taller hero is struggling to get up. He hoists his friend up.

“I’m calling for backup. You good to drive after them?”

Wreck King nods. Summoning the parts of the wrecked motorbike to him, he presses a button in the back of his bulky, metallic suit. Four wheels spring out, the frame holding them together rolling underneath him easily. The exoskeleton of a car forms quickly from there, the green of the ruined bike melding effortlessly with the reds and blues of the spare parts Wreck King always carries around in his costume. Lastly, he lays down his big shield to form the floor of the car, and swings open the mishmash of parts that form the door. Scorpio gets in gracefully, bronze boots light against the shield-floor.

“Hold tight,” Mingyu smiles at Minghao with those adorably sharp canines of his. “I’m stepping on the gas!”

And then they’re zooming off, Wreck King in the center of the makeshift vehicle, eyes focused forwards as he controls the parts to move like they would if they were in an actual car. Minghao watches the muscles in Wreck King’s back flex as he holds on tightly to a handle on the ceiling (they wouldn’t be called _First_ Responders if this mode of travel wasn’t fast). Under the bulky car parts he carries around, his partner has on a black suit covering him from nose to toes - from the back, it covers everything apart from his head, which is protected by the red-and-blue helmet Wreck King dons. 

The car skids, and Scorpio fights not to lose his balance. 

“Brace!” Wreck King yells, and he does - a millisecond before the front of the car rams into something and the Racing Hero lets its four walls fall apart. Scorpio identifies what they’d rammed into as the bike Phantom and Wraith were on, and immediately launches into an attack sequence. A tornado-like blizzard of shining stars surrounds the three, and Scorpio watches as Phantom and Wraith avoid the attacks to varying degrees of success. Phantom simply turns intangible, letting each starry attack pass through him, but Wraith has a harder time, taking multiple hits. 

In the distance, Scorpio hears Wreck King connecting to HQ, updating them on the situation (“ _Junction between Chungdol Avenue and Jeontu Street, Ruby District! Will try to contain conflict along Chungdol Ave., but we need reinforcements NOW! It’s Chimera - currently Conflict Level 2, will update if the situation gets any worse.”)_. He hopes that backup will come soon - as a lower-ranked Duo, this is their first time dealing with any Villain Associations in the top 10. Scorpio supposes that it’s just their luck that the encounter is with the current number 2 on HQ’s most wanted list. 

His attention snaps back to the attack when he sees Wraith fall to his knees, clutching his chest, unable to take more of Scorpio’s hits. Instead of keeping up the whirlwind of stars he’s created, Scorpio concentrates fire at the smaller villain, trusting Wreck King to protect his back from the invisible Phantom. 

Sure enough, his partner returns, quickly blocking Wraith in on three sides with the discarded car and motorbike parts surrounding them and forcing him to face Scorpio’s attack head-on. When the villain crumples to the ground, Wreck King seals him into a car-parts cube, determined not to let him escape. 

Scorpio stumbles a little, dizzy. He’d never kept up the blizzard attack for that long, and clearly its effects were beginning to take its toll on him. Wreck King extends a stabilizing hand to him, and Scorpio takes it, grateful for the help. A movement catches his eye, from behind Wreck King, and he sends out a wall of stars at the other hero’s back just in time to block a dagger zooming towards him. The cool metal melts when it comes into contact with Scorpio’s wall, but the hero lets the sparks dissipate quickly, still weakened from the attacks he’d used against Wraith.

The assailant makes himself visible again, and Wreck King charges towards him, tackling the villain to the ground. They brawl on the floor, but before Scorpio can move to help his partner, there is a loud boom from the background. 

Scorpio turns to find that Wraith has escaped his metal prison, hands glowing with the energy he absorbed to power his attacks. Shit. Suddenly, Scorpio realises that he shouldn’t have blasted him as strongly as he did - the villain had probably absorbed power from the stars Scorpio shot at him. 

A crooked grin overcomes Wraith’s features, visible even under his painted mask, as his hands begin to glow blindingly white. He sucks the energy out of a nearby oak, leaving the plant shriveled and depleted, before he turns to the heroes.

Scorpio watches with mounting horror as Wraith raises both palms directly at him. He’s frozen to the spot, still drained from the earlier attack. 

Wraith waves. Smiles. “Goodbye, hero.” 

Then, all Minghao can do it watch as a flash of blindingly bright light comes closer and closer -

Only to be intercepted as Wreck King dives in front of Minghao, yanking the shorter boy behind him, shield flying to his arm just in time to stop Wraith’s attack from hitting him.

The pair skid up the road a good few meters, pushed back by the force of Wraith’s blast, before Wreck King smiles cockily at the villains. 

"Bust through my shield first, then we will talk!"

Minghao reorients himself for a moment, shaken from the near miss, before assuming a fighting stance next to Wreck King again. Scorpio was prepared to do anything to protect the city.

It is then, of course, that Champion drops in from the sky. Cracks appear underneath him from the impact as he lands in between the heroes and the villains, and Scorpio looks up to see Savior and Paladin circling the sky above them.

“Heard you guys needed some help,” he says over his shoulder to the younger heroes. Then, he addresses Chimera. “Long time no see, guys, how’s the hard-knock life been treating you?” 

Wraith scowls, and sends a blast of psychic attack at Champion, who just crosses his gauntlet-clad arms in an X in front of him and takes the brunt of the attack.

Mingyu’s mouth falls open at the display of power, and Minghao pushes his jaw closed. He turns to the taller hero. “While he’s dealing with Wraith, we should try and help with Phantom. Who knows where he is - who knows what he _could be doing_.”

A voice right by his ear. “Aww, nice of you to think of me, babe.”

Scorpio whirls around, unleashing a spray of stars at the villain. Unfortunately, they just pass through him, and do nothing but drain Scorpio further. Wreck King instinctively shifts to cover Scorpio more as the smaller hero exhales shakily. 

“Don’t touch him!” Mingyu barks at the villain. He holds his shield up and shifts to a fighting stance.

Phantom laughs. “But who’s going to stop me? _You?_ ” 

“Of course he will,” Savior's voice comes from behind Minghao. "Would you really expect any less from our mentees?"

Savior places a hand on the Scorpio's shoulder, hands glowing with the ability to heal, and Minghao can feel his strength returning to him with the contact. Such, he supposes, is the power of the top ranked heroes in Caratland. 

Phantom scowls as he sees Paladin also touch ground behind the two newer heroes. Then, he yells out to his partner. “WRAITH! PLAN BETA IS A GO!” 

Both Scorpio and Paladin send attacks towards him, Scorpio's stars carried faster with Paladin's wind to guide them, but Phantom is gone, invisible and intangible.

Paladin just sighs. “Gone again. You’d think that after all this time, Chimera would have stopped this whole villainy thing, but they just keep going strong. Come, we should help Champion with Wraith before they escape again.”

The two senior heroes achieve liftoff quickly, obviously planning to provide air support, while Wreck King and Scorpio begin running towards the conflict, which has migrated further up the street. Along the way, Wreck King begins re-summoning all his parts from the first crash. 

As they get closer to the conflict, Scorpio notices something strange behind them - a manhole cover on the pavement shifting ever-so-slightly - but it’s enough to make him send a swift attack at whoever is right above it. Phantom turns visible, yelping as he accidentally releases his hold on invisibility and takes the attack. Scorpio sends another wave of stars at him, but he just blows a kiss and drops into the tunnels underneath. 

Scorpio turns back towards the fight, where he sees Wraith discreetly edging closer and closer to the asphalt until he is almost directly above the nearest manhole cover. 

He cups his hands around his mouth. “CHAMPION! DON’T LET HIM GO INTO THE MANHOLE!”

The older hero doesn’t give any sign that he’s heard Scorpio, and the younger is about to repeat himself until he sees the fight beginning to move away from the manhole. Just as he is reaching them, though, Wraith sees him coming and smirks. 

"Cute. Too bad the manhole wasn't the plan."

Then, the square meter of pavement under his feet rips apart and he falls downwards - the heroes about to give chase, until the hole begins filling rapidly with something white and cloudy. 

“Tear Gas!” Savior says, gesturing frantically at the civilians who have gathered near the fight. “Start evac, NOW!”

Scorpio sees police cars already headed towards the watching crowds, trying to get them away from the scene, so he heads into one of the shophouses to help evacuate any potentially-trapped civilians before they get affected by the tear gas. 

[03:16 pm, April 2nd, 2XXX. Hero HQ, 83 Achasan Road, Emerald District, Caratland.]

Minghao's grabbing his stuff from the locker rooms back at HQ when Jisoo approaches him. The older hero’s long changed out of his Paladin gear in favor of a white turtleneck and long coat, black hair wet from a recent shower. 

"Hi, Hao," the older hero starts off with an awkward smile. Minghao adjusts his scarf, smiling back. Jisoo continues. "How was the patrol today?"

Minghao knows from his experience as Jisoo's mentee that the older hero just wants to check on him after his first run in with top wanted villains. He holds in his snark. "Fine, I guess - I'm just disappointed that they got away."

Jisoo sits on the benches behind him, and Minghao stops packing his bag to turn and face him. "Don't sweat it, even we've encountered them so many times but never managed to bring them down! If anything, you should be proud that you handled a level three attack before it could escalate - not every rookie can do that."

That is true. Minghao had trained with a hero that, upon meeting Chimera, had accidentally escalated the situation into a level four - nearly destroying the Sapphire District. He can’t remember their face, but he knows for a fact that they’ve been conscripted to a desk job in HQ now.

What is also true is that today’s threat was probably not a true level three - Minghao thinks that it had been brought one level up because of the villains involved. Chimera had been terrorising Caratland for long before Minghao and Mingyu had been heroes - before even Jisoo and his team had been heroes, and anyone who’d been around for the eight years they’d been active would know exactly how destructive they could be. 

Minghao forces a smile at Jisoo. “I’m fine. I’ll do better next time.”

Jisoo shakes his head. “You need to put less pressure on yourself. Sometimes, I think we mentored you and Mingyu badly...We’ve fucked you guys up so much, giving you goals that even we can’t reach.”

Minghao rolls his eyes. “I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. You were an amazing mentor, Jisoo -I don’t know where I’ll be without you.” He turns back to his locker, stuffing his things into his bag. “It’s not your fault we couldn’t detain Chimera today.”

Jisoo sighs. “Come here, you.” He pulls Minghao towards him by the back of his jacket, wrapping the younger hero into a hug. Minghao presses his cheek to wet hair, feeling the cool dampness against his face.

“You’re too hard on yourself, Hao.” He says. Minghao feels the arms around his waist tighten by a fraction. “I wish you’d learn to take a break.”

They stay like that for a while more, until Jisoo’s phone rings, breaking the silence.

“It’s Jeonghan,” he mumbles. “He’s probably wondering where I am.”

Minghao hums. “Mingyu’s probably looking for me too.” 

Neither of them move, letting Jeonghan’s call fade to voicemail. It is only then that Jisoo’s arms fall slack, and Minghao wriggles out of his grasp.

He picks up his stuff, heading to the door. Behind him, Jisoo is tapping at his phone, presumably answering Jeonghan’s huffy texts. “Bye, Jisoo. Tell Jeonghan and Cheol to have us over at yours again for dinner soon.”

He doesn’t wait for a reply, letting the door swing softly shut behind him. He had a dance class to teach.

* * *

[11:26 pm, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2XXX. Hoshi Dance School, 1010 Bichnan-Byeol Drive, Sapphire District, Caratland.]

The last notes to ‘Lilili Yabbay’ ring throughout the studio, and Soonyoung holds his position for a few seconds before turning to Chan excitedly.

“That’s it! That’s the best run we’ve had so far!” 

The younger grins back, matching his enthusiasm. “Hell yeah! If only the others were here to see it…”

It was late on a Wednesday night. Both Jun and Minghao had left after their Hip-Hop class, both citing previous engagements - though Soonyoung knew how tired Minghao must have been after his first run in with a major villain group. This left Soonyoung and Chan alone in the studio to finish the teachers’ choreography for their coming showcase in June, three and a half months from now.

Soonyoung realises he’s been staring at nothing for too long when the sound of snap buttons opening, loud in the silence of the studio. He turns to see Chan peeling his right glove off and wiping off the sweat accumulated on his hand, one finger at a time.

“Can I?” Soonyoung asks, pointing at the discarded glove. Chan nods, so he picks it up curiously. The brown leather it’s made of is worn, and the thread binding parts of it together at the seams is loose. It’s soft, Soonyoung notes, another clear sign of use. 

Chan extends his hand, and Soonyoung passes the glove back to him, watching as he puts it on, snapping the buttons in place. 

Soonyoung cocks his head. “Why do you need gloves?”

Chan smiles wryly. “It’s partially because I can control my power easier this way, and partly because it's a force of habit - the matrons at the orphanage I grew up in preferred me wearing them.”

“You grew up in an orphanage?” 

Chan hesitates. “Uh, yeah. My best friends - the two guys I live with - stayed there too. I’ve known them since I was like four? Five?”

Soonyoung hums. “Ah, it must have been hard. The foster and adoption systems here suck. But at least you had your friends, I guess.”

“They're more like brothers at this point - I don't know what I’d do without them. What about you? Where did you grow up?”

Soonyoung laughs. “Well, the capital, I guess - I was born in Opal City itself, but I spent a lot more time on the outskirts of the Diamond District.”

“For school?”

Uhhhh. Soonyoung blanks out, wondering how to cover up his real past. 

He’d been born to a (presumably) poor and/or in debt couple, who’d sold him to the “hero-raising” program when he was three and his power, Cat, surfaced. The experimental state-run program was the only one of its kind, and was hushed up, unknown to the general public. Large, factory-like buildings at the outskirts of the Diamond District secretly trained 10-20 children until they were discontinued, and the government-raised heroes had no option but to enter the “official” hero training school with the actual hero hopefuls. 

It was easily the worst place a child could grow up. Besides the generic academic classes, they had to take Taekwondo, Jujitsu and Wushu under the most merciless of instructors. What little free time they had was spent with the same few people, and bullying was frequent, those who were stronger taking out their anger on the weaker ones.

And then there were the Caretakers. They sat in on every lesson, and if they deemed your progress insufficient, you’d get one heck of a beating that night. They didn’t tolerate rebelliousness, or saying anything out of line - Soonyoung had enough whip marks on his back from his loose tongue to know.

Quite honestly, Soonyoung came out of the program better off than almost everyone else. Their childhood had left them with a lot of scarring, and those who were left when the program was shut down had a lot of anger issues, and most were deemed unfit for society within the first year. That is, if they were still alive… Soonyoung had seen too many of his peers’ deaths, both before and after the program. 

When he was released from the program, he turned to his first love, dance. An elective the program taught had been ballet, to improve control and flexibility and balance. Soonyoung went to a dance school near their housing post-program, and it was there that he learned Contemporary and Hip Hop, and finished his CSTDs in ballet. 

He met Seokmin in the official hero school when they were 18 and 17 respectively, and it was with him and Minghao that he opened Hoshi Dance Studios six years later. By then, he'd become the fourth-ranking hero, second only to the trio Champion with their joint first - the only other successful victims of the hero-raising program.

“Yeah, it was for school,” Soonyoung replies. 

He forces a smile at Chan, who smiles back. “What about you? Any travel for school?” Soonyoung asks.

“Well, obviously I stayed within the District when I was with the orphanage, but I got a half-scholarship to Topaz College of the Arts for their Dance program - thought I suppose you'd know that from reading my resume when you hired me.”

Soonyoung laughs. “Yeah, but I didn't know you’d got a scholarship! They should have given you a full ride, though - you’re really good, and a coveted uni like theirs must have been expensive.”

Chan looks down, smiling awkwardly at the floor. “Yeah. It was hard for us to pay tuition a lot of the time.”

“But you’re okay now, right?” Soonyoung asks. When Chan nods, he grins at the younger boy, slapping him on the back. “Just remember: you’re one of us now - don’t hesitate to ask for help!”

Chan’s ensuing smile, he thinks, might just be the best thing he’s seen all day.

* * *

[06:08 pm, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2XXX. Hero HQ, 83 Achasan Road, Emerald District, Caratland.]

Jisoo’s filling in paperwork from their latest arrest, Jeonghan lounging on the beaten-up yellow couch before him and pretending to be useful, when Seungcheol barges into their shared office. He is obviously stressed, flopping onto Jeonghan when the pink-haired man stretches his arms out to him. 

Jisoo stays quiet as he watches Jeonghan's hands glow faintly from where he's slipped them under Seungcheol's sweater, the tell-tale luminosity of his healing power visibly relaxing Seungcheol.

Jisoo waits until the glow has receded to talk. “Wanna tell us what’s wrong?” 

Seungcheol turns to face Jisoo when he speaks, pressing his back to Jeonghan. 

“I’m not supposed to but… I just found out from Director Seongsu that the tech department’s developed something new. A power amplifier. He showed it to me… nearly punted me through the wall, too.”

Jisoo stays silent for a second, processing the information, but Jeonghan has no problem speaking his mind.

“Aren’t those illegal? There are literal laws against developing machines or drugs affecting your power - but suddenly HQ wants us to use what is basically a performance enhancing drug?”

Seungcheol nods, hunching over and putting his head in his hands.

Jisoo frowns. “I think my main concern about it right now is that it will fall into the wrong hands, you know? Like I’d rather _we_ use it than someone who will use it for something bad. Imagine if Vengeance had it - or if Revenant had it when we fought him.”

The trio had been struggling against Vengeance for the past five years, since the self-proclaimed Official Villain Duo had rocketed to the top of the villain rankings. Currently, they were the biggest thorn in their collective sides - the duo’s elemental powers of shadow and light the only things that could best their super strength, healing and wind powers. Jisoo didn’t want to think about a reality where their already-devastating powers were amplified by a machine that could make even Director Seongsoo’s minor strength enhancement nearly throw Seungcheol of all people through a wall. Together, Vengeance could probably already destroy a small province. With the amplifier, though, they could probably trigger a DEFCON 2 - potential to wipe out more than one of the five districts.

Revenant was another story. When they’d confronted him for the last time, four years ago, he’d killed a woman with just a brush of his fingertips. That kind of power… 

Seungcheol sighs. “Yeah. I told him that - but since when does HQ actually listen to us?” He laughs wryly. “We’re just the face of their entire organization, after all.”

Jeonghan pulls at the sleeves of Seungcheol’s sweater, and he melts into the embrace their angel extends. Jisoo hesitates for a second, wanting to finish his paperwork, but one look from Jeonghan melts him. Abandoning his work, he heads over to their couch, squeezing Seungcheol in between his and Jeonghan’s embraces. 

Their leader rolls his head back onto Jisoo’s shoulder, and Jisoo drops a small kiss onto his forehead. This is the way it works : Seungcheol is the leader in every sense of the word - their general on the battlefield, their figurehead to the press, the king to their sovereign rule. But when it’s just the three of them, Jeonghan and Jisoo take charge, soothing him, healing him. Trying their best to take his mind off any issue, to the best of their ability.

Jeonghan slumps back into the couch. “Well, there’s not much we can do until they officially tell us it exists - until then, we keep protecting the city, and praying that they come to their senses and destroy the damn thing. Don’t worry your pretty head, Cheollie, whatever comes, we can handle it.”

Seungcheol and Jisoo both instinctually smile at the impromptu cheesy line, and Jisoo pulls Jeonghan up, drawing him into a lingering kiss. 

Jisoo smiles at them when he pulls back, watching as Seungcheol leans his forehead against Jeonghan as the latter litters butterfly kisses on his face, and knows that Jeonghan was right - as long as they were together, nothing could tear them down.

* * *

[10:47 pm, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2XXX. Apartment above EZ Mart, 96 Heulishan Road, Amethyst District, Caratland.]

Junhui crashes into Jihoon’s apartment, stumbling through the closed door. The smaller boy startles, but Junhui pays him no mind - he’s got big news. 

“Hoon, I’ve got it - our next big mission! I found it in the Hero HQ. Once we’ve got our hands on this, there'll be nothing we can’t do!”

Jihoon looks mildly disturbed, but Junhui forges on. “I mean it! You know I’ve never been particularly power-obsessed - but seriously, the damage we could do with this thing…”

“Just tell me what it is already.”

Junhui pulls the stolen manila envelope out of his bag, dropping it onto the table. Jihoon slowly pulls it towards himself, but his eyes widen as he reads its contents. 

“A functional power amplifier... The underground’s been trying to make one for years now, and you’re telling me the fucking _heroes_ of all people have one??”

Junhui nods. “I think it’s pretty new though, so none of the patrolling heroes would have had a chance to use it yet. But they will, soon.”

“Why didn’t you just grab it while you were in their HQ earlier?”

Junhui shakes his head. “I haven’t seen it, only heard a conversation between Champion and their director. The director was using the thing on him as an example, and I swear, he nearly brought Champion to his knees!”

Jihoon hums, before going back to reading the documents in his hand. “It’s gonna be pretty heavily guarded - the power repressors from a few years back will be guarding it, and guards, and a lot of other stuff.”

He looks up at Junhui. “Maybe it’s time to bring in some backup.” 

Junhui smiles. “Maybe it is.”  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

[01:28am, Sunday, April 6th, 2XXX. #02-82 Fernville Complex, Emerald District, Caratland.]

It is early Sunday morning when Wonwoo wakes to the sound of glass breaking in the kitchen. It’s been years since a jumpscare like that meant an attack, but Wonwoo still hauls himself out of bed and towards the kitchen like there’s an army after him. 

He enters the kitchen to find that it’s just Mingyu and Minghao finally home after patrol, and what used to be an empty cup.

Minghao is the first to see Wonwoo, quickly shoving the blame onto Mingyu. “He did it.”

Mingyu gives a sheepish smile, and Wonwoo can feel his heart melt just a little. 

He grabs a broom from the corner of the kitchen, going to sweep up the mug shards on the floor. Mingyu starts grabbing the larger pieces, and Minghao decides to make himself scarce by escaping into the living room. Wonwoo sees him flop onto the sofa, shucking off his socks and curling into one of the pillows.

“How was patrol?” Wonwoo asks. “Anything interesting?”

Mingyu shakes his head, dumping pieces of mug into the bin. “Nah. Just the usual night shift stuff - a robbery, two muggings, some drunk guy causing a ruckus.” He hoists himself onto the counter. “You went over to Coups’ for dinner, right? Anything interesting?”

The dark of night. A streetlight sputtering. A flash of light. Old memories resurfacing. A familiar shadow that he doesn't want to recognise.

Wonwoo forces a smile. “Jisoo’s somehow managed to convince Jeonghan that Seungcheol went through his sweets stash. He hasn’t actually, but Jeonghan’s been trying to get revenge by slowly swapping all his cash out for IOU notes. Also, they wanted me to remind you about a meeting at Hero HQ for some reason.”

Mingyu perks up. “The one on Wednesday? Ah, I guess they’ll be coming too.”

Wonwoo empties the dustpan into the bin at the corner of the room, smacking the plastic into the sides for good measure. When he turns back around, Mingyu extends his arms, and Wonwoo steps into the hug, leaning his head against Mingyu’s shoulder.

“You good?” The hero asks, breath soft against the top of Wonwoo’s head. 

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure? You can tell me things, you know.”

Wonwoo sighs, just a little bit annoyed at being coddled. “Yeah, I know.”

Mingyu shifts, jostling Wonwoo’s head. “You’re  _ sure _ you’re good?”

Wonwoo rips himself out of Mingyu’s hold, suddenly hot, the flames of irritation licking wetly at him. 

“ _ Yeah _ .” He said. “Can you stop asking?”

Wonwoo can see the hurt in Mingyu’s eyes when the other speaks again. “Sorry.”

Wonwoo takes a step back, deflating a little. “No, don’t, I’m- I’m just tired. Don’t worry. Nothing’s wrong.” 

“If you say so.”

Wonwoo smiles emptily at the boy on the kitchen counter. Wonders if he’ll ever be able to tell Mingyu the truth about his past. 

Mingyu smiles back, but it’s as fake as Wonwoo’s. He turns tail and flees back to their bedroom, leaving Wonwoo to wonder if it’s too late for him, a spider trapped in his own web of lies.

* * *

[12:47pm, Sunday, April 6th, 2XXX. Aureum-Dal Drive, Sapphire District, Caratland.]

Mingyu sighs. “Do you think he’s mad at me?”

Minghao rolls his eyes. “Oh my god, we're on patrol right now. Save it for later.”

It’s true. Mingyu huffs, before shifting effortlessly to his Wreck King persona. The duo is patrolling around the Sapphire District today, a train station away from where Minghao’s dance school is, and where Wonwoo is attending his morning shift at Coups’ Books. 

A woman bows to the Duo as they pass her by, and they wave at her, smiling. 

“It’s strange to be patrolling in the Sapphire District, don’t you think?” Scorpio comments. “I kind of miss seeing the landmarks over our usual routes.”

Wreck King hums. “It makes sense that they’d put us in Ruby and Emerald for regular patrols - we’re not exactly high ranked - but maybe putting us in a relatively richer district is a test for something.”

“Like what?”

“Hell if I know - some new program or something, maybe.”

Scorpio looks contemplative under his shimmery mask, hands fidgeting with his bronze vambraces.

They pass a group of teens, smiling at them as they pass. One of the girls giggles when Wreck King makes eye contact with her. Scorpio has gone silent again, gazing out at the shops across the street from them. Wreck King keeps his eyes on the road ahead of them, scanning the people around them.

A woman with a stroller. A businessman speaking hurriedly into his phone. A guy with archers’ gloves and a pink duffle bag. A girl with long hair and a metal baseball bat-

The girl snatches the pink duffle out of its owner’s hands and starts running in the direction of the nearest train station, away from the heroes.

“HEY!” The boy yells after her, giving chase. Wreck King and Scorpio exchange looks, before following hot on his heels. 

The girl uses her bat to smack someone out of the way, before glancing over her shoulder at the steadily nearing heroes. She swears, but just as Wreck King’s about to grab her shoulder, she shoots off, feet turning into wheels as she zooms through the crowd.

“Fuck,” Mingyu mumbles, before pulling at the wheelframe at his back. The parts for a motorcycle - his chosen vehicle for today’s patrol - fall out, and he assembles it in less than a second, hopping on and pulling Scorpio with him.

As they steer off the pavement and onto the road next to them, Wreck King yells out to the girl. 

“We have eyes on you! Stop resisting arrest!” 

She scowls at them, speeding up and knocking an old woman aside. “Saying that never helps,” Minghao mumbles, and when Mingyu looks behind he sees the boy whose bag was stolen help the elderly lady up before giving chase again. 

“WATCH THE ROAD,” Minghao screams into his ear, and Wreck King turns to face the front once more. The girl turns into a side alley, and they follow her into it.

They emerge through the other side into a long cul-de-sac, its one way leading to the train station. One of the flyover railways goes over their heads, and the space between its pillars is empty, save for a single vending machine. There is a row of shops, all closed, and no one except for the girl, and the two special guests who greet them.

“Looking for this?” Wraith smirks. The pink duffle bag dangles from his fingers by the strap, bright against his dark gloves. Slightly behind him, Phantom has an arm slung around the snatch-and-run girl, who shakes in his grasp, wheels skidding, nowhere to go. 

Scorpio steps forwards. “Wraith. We let you go the last time… Today, we won’t be as lenient. Hand over the bag first, then we can talk about the jail sentence waiting for you.”

Wreck King presses a button in the side of his helmet as Scorpio and the villains continue to talk. The HUD in his visor lights up, and he connects to HQ right away.

_ “State your identity, location and the current Level threat please.” _

“It’s Wreck King with Scorpio. We’re in Sapphire, near the Haedot-i Train Station. Level threat is 1 now - but we’re facing Chimera, so.”

_ “Haedot-i Station, Sapphire District. Level threat - Two, potentially higher. Do you need backup?” _

Wreck King focuses back on the conflict just as Wraith sends a stunner at Scorpio. 

“It’s Chimera. Send in backup - there’s also a civilian-”

The boy whose duffle bag got stolen stumbles into the alley.

“-there are  _ two _ civilians, so don’t just get some noob.”

_ “Got it.” _ The connection severs just as Wreck King dodges an attack from Wraith. 

“Pay attention, hero,” Phantom says, still clutching the girl. He presses a knife to her neck. “Wouldn't like Wheels here to suffer because of you, hmm?”

Scorpio escapes his scuffle with Wraith for a second, focusing his attention on Phantom - Wreck King takes the opportunity to tackle the smaller villain when he sees him head towards Scorpio, hands glowing.  Wraith tries to squirm away, but Wreck King pins him to the floor, struggling to cuff one of his skinny wrists. 

To his left, the duffle bag boy looks lost, so Wreck King takes the opportunity to scream at him. 

“GO!” He hollers, but Wraith thinks faster, shooting a stunner at Duffle Bag (Mingyu feels bad calling him that, but yeah) and sending him sprawling onto the floor, knocked out. 

“Not so fast,” Wraith growls, trying to squirm out of Wreck King’s grasp. The hero holds on tighter. Frustrated, Wraith tries to send a stunner at close range, but Wreck King blocks - just in time, light bouncing off reinforced metal and back towards the villain, who falls on the ground, unconscious. 

Wreck King pauses for a moment, fumbling to cuff Wraith properly, before rushing to Duffle Bag’s side. He’s completely passed out, having knocked his head on the road badly, so Wreck King just administers basic aid as fast as possible (presses gauze to the blood at his hairline, adjusts him so he's lying with his head and shoulders elevated, propped up on the hero first aid kit) before rushing to his partner's side. 

Scorpio and Phantom are dancing a dangerous tango, Wheels trapped between them as they spin around, stars and blades alike flashing in the light. They take turns trying to take control of Wheels, and when Scorpio notices Wreck King hovering he grabs the girl, shoving her towards him. 

“Catch!” he yells, and Wreck King extends his arms to let Wheels fall into them. She is sobbing silently, struggling with every breath, and there are cuts and burns up and down her exposed arms and legs. Wreck King curses internally (he can't get at the first aid kit with Duffle Bag lying on it) before taking a moment to calm her down, pulling her to sit beside Duffle Bag. 

“Hey. Take a deep breath for me, okay? In, two, three, four-” He watches as she follows. “-Out, two, three, four. Good. Can I ask you to do me a favor?” 

She nods, still crying, but significantly calmer. “There are gonna be other heroes coming, okay? I need you to make sure they pay attention to you and Duffle Bag here, make sure you two get medical assistance. I know it hurts, but can you stay strong for me?”

Wheels seems years younger, tears staining her cheeks pink, but she nods again, determined. Then she catches sight of something just behind his back - Wreck King turns to look just as Wraith lunges at him, one of Phantom’s daggers in his hand. He catches the villain’s wrist inches from his back, and the shorter male snarls at him, face contorted into a snarl under the purple mask.

“I thought you were cuffed…” Wreck King muses. He takes a look, and realises that scraps of metal are on the ground where he left Wraith. 

“Did you seriously explode through my handcuffs?” He asks the villain, who looks vaguely smug.

“Yes. It was easy.”

“But those were my last pair!” He whines, before Scorpio’s voice startles them both.

“WOULD YOU STOP CHATTING WITH VILLAINS ALREADY??” Mingyu can tell he’s annoyed, so he tries to hurry things along, twisting Wraith’s wrist until he drops the knife. It clinks against the cement, shiny steel glinting against the sun 

The villain seems incensed, growling once before mustering his strength and headbutting Wreck King as hard as he can. Stars in his vision, Wreck King backs away, his grip slipping off of Wraith. 

With startling speed, the villain lunges towards Duffle Bag and Wheels, but Wreck King is there again. 

“I won’t let you hurt them!” He near-roars, arms spread out protectively, but Wraith just throws his head back, laughing. It is a surprising sweet sound, but Wreck King doesn’t lower his guard.

“You’ll protect them, hmm? Big words… let’s see how you handle this!” Stretching his arms out, Wraith makes as if he is about to suck energy from Duffle Bag and Wheels over Wreck King’s shoulder, and the hero reacts instinctually.  _ Eliminate the threat, _ his training screams at him, and he tackles Wraith to the ground, struggling with him over control, trying to get him  _ away _ from the hostages, overwhelming adrenaline lending him strength as he wrestles with Caratland’s second most wanted.

Wreck King lands a blow to Wraith, jostling his mask, but in retaliation, there is a sharp feeling at his torso. Grunting, he falls back, and Wraith takes advantage of the moment to spring towards Duffle Bag and Wheels again. Wreck King moves to shield them, but the pain in his side flares up and he only gets there just in time for Wraith’s stunner to catch him in the gut instead. 

Mingyu hunches over, black spots swimming in his vision. He pats absently at his stomach, and his hand comes back painted red. The dagger is gone from where Wraith had dropped it on the cement, and Mingyu belatedly realises that he’s been stabbed.

“You’re just human, aren’t you, hero? Just like the rest of us…” Wraith smirks. “Just another pawn for your ‘HQ’.”

Mingyu lets out a pained gasp as Wraith steps closer, hand brushing the stab wound. “Just  _ human _ .” 

Wraith moves back, laughing. “You’re good, hero. Better than the cannon fodder that usually patrols around here.” He looks at Wheels and Duffle Bag over Mingyu’s shoulder, and Mingyu can hear the girl’s breath catch, too scared to breathe. “Too bad for your friends back there - I’m better than you.” 

Mingyu spits out a mouthful of blood and saliva, slowly straightening up. Wraith watches him, unimpressed. 

“If you wanna get to them, you’re gonna have to go through me first!” Mingyu grits his teeth, but smiles despite the pain at his abdomen. “I may be just human, but you’re a Wraith - the weak afterimage of someone already dead. Let’s see who’s stronger!” 

Wraith grins and shifts into a fighting stance. “Come at me,  _ hero _ .”

* * *

[01:38pm, Sunday, April 6th, 2XXX. Near Haedot-i Speed Train Station, Sapphire District, Caratland.]

When Seokmin was called in as emergency backup for a nearby attack, he certainly didn’t expect Chimera at the scene.

At the mouth of the cul-de-sac, in between the supporting pillars of the flyover train rail above their heads, Scorpio seems to have the upper hand against Phantom, though both seem to have suffered a significant drain to their energy reserves, Scorpio more so than the other.

Further in, Wreck King seems to be fighting a losing battle against Wraith, but the two civilians behind him remain mostly untouched. 

Seokmin turns to his partner. “Horang-i, the civilians are our first priority. Scorpio seems fine for now - we should go to Wreck-” He is forced to stop talking when a stray dagger zooms past his face. 

“Yah, what are you two being so loud for,” Phantom feigns nonchalance from where he now has Scorpio pinned to the floor. “People are trying to fight here, can’t you see?”

Scorpio sends sparks at him, hissing. “Go to Wreck King!” He yells over the commotion. “I can hold this one off.”

By Seokmin’s side, Horang-i makes the switch between human and tiger, bounding away from them on four furry limbs. Seokmin takes a deep breath, feeling for any nearby water - of which he finds more than enough. 

Oceanus steps closer to Scorpio and Phantom, joining in the fray. He and Scorpio try to initiate a two-pronged attack sequence, but Phantom keeps evading, passing through the nearest person and out of whichever corner he’s been backed into. Scorpio frustratedly leaks sparks, but Oceanus keeps his cool. After a while, he starts to notice a pattern. 

Reaching out, Oceanus pulls the other two apart with long limbs of water. Scorpio looks confused, but seems to trust him. Phantom, on the other hand, narrows his eyes. 

“What do you want, water boy.”

Oceanus hums. “Just to share some observations…” He feels the thrum of the rivers deep under the ground, and it gives him confidence. “Every time you turn intangible, there are two things you follow. You can’t reappear where something already is, and you can’t breathe the entire time… so how well will you handle  _ this! _ ” 

The strength of the water surfacing from beneath his feet is enough to crack the pavement, as Oceanus summons a floating ball of water to surround Phantom. The villain tries to turn invisible, but Oceanus is faster, trapping him within the constantly swirling orb. 

Scorpio smirks, panting a little. “Time to find out how well he holds his breath. I’m going to help the others - watch Phantom!”

Oceanus gives him a thumbs up, brow beading with sweat as he slowly gathers more water. Scorpio runs towards the other fight (mostly Horang-i versus Wraith seeing how injured Wreck King is - is that a  _ stab wound?) _ , joining in without a word. 

Suddenly, Wraith turns to face Oceanus, rage painted across his face. Frozen with the concentration it took to keep Phantom’s orb up, Oceanus doesn’t notice the pavement under him fracture further, water leaking out. 

Wraith grabs hold of the nearest person - Horang-i - who collapses almost immediately, faint, power sucked from him to aid the villain. Scorpio rushes to the other hero’s side as Wraith makes a mad dash for Oceanus and Phantom, hands supercharged and glowing with power. 

The villain raises his hand, and Oceanus instinctively summons a shield of water from the crack to protect himself. But he isn’t Wraith’s target - the villain aims towards the crack in the pavement and it explodes outwards.

Startled by the fountain of water that gushes forth, Seokmin loses his concentration on Phantom and his orb of water, and it comes crashing to the ground. He yelps in surprise, but his attention is quickly drawn towards something else - the crack on the floor widening, racing towards one of the foundation pillars holding up the railway. 

The other heroes seem as horrified as he is, and Wraith slips out of their grasp easily, racing towards Phantom and out of the alley. For a split second, Oceanus moves to chase them - but he has more pressing issues. 

The crack on the floor has reached one of the railway’s foundation pillars, and it starts crumbling rapidly, metal bars and concrete falling apart. Oceanus knows that in the next five minutes, a whole stretch of railway will be completely destroyed.

Horang-i leaps towards the destruction, tiger muscles rippling under his orange fur. Scorpio follows at his heels, but stops when he hears Oceanus’ yell. “Stay here! Wreck King and the civilians need help - make sure they get aid before joining Horang-i!” 

The slightly younger hero nods in affirmation, rushing back to his partner. Above their heads, the train line starts crumbling, chunks of concrete falling away. A piece of it nearly gets Oceanus in the head as he rushes towards it, and he swirls some of the water still gushing forth up to catch it, bringing it down to the ground. 

When he catches up to Horang-i, the other hero is in the midst of evac procedure. Most of the people in the area have long fled, but in Horang-i’s arms is a little girl, her knees skinned and forehead bleeding. 

“Oceanus!” He calls. “You need to do something! Use the ice thing-”

“I can’t!” Seokmin protests. “I can barely hold it for a minute!”

Horang-i snarls at him. Actually snarls, tiger face contorting in frustration. “Well, you need to do  _ something _ \- you’re the only one who’s suited to!”

Seokmin takes a step back, startled, and Horang-i seems to deflate a little. “I mean it. I’m just a tiger - you’re more than just a water boy and you know it.”

Seokmin grits his teeth, determined. “I’ll do my best,” Oceanus tells Horang-i, before summoning more water to lift him upwards, a liquidy skirt forming between himself and the ground, up and up until he can step onto the railroad. 

It is shaky up there, although he supposes that’s what happens when the rail’s lost one of its pillars. Oceanus moves over to the edge of the railroad, where the massive hole is, and looks over. It’s not that far down, he thinks, and-

The concrete shakes beneath his feet, and he takes a step back, a wave of acrophobia passing through him. Exhaling shakily, he takes a moment to calm himself before taking stock of the situation and deciding on the best course of action. 

Slowly, he starts lifting more water up, slipping it between the cracks and mentally holding it in place, gluing the pieces of railway together. It’s a slow process, filling the spaces and focusing on making the water  _ stay _ , like it’s a particularly rowdy dog. More than once, water begins spilling as his concentration wavers. 

He’s just finished making sure the water holds up one end of the rail when his radio crackles to life, Horang-i’s voice spilling forth. 

“Oceanus! Bro, you need to hurry up, theres a train on the line now! It’s gonna be here in T-minus-” His voice is masked by the wail of an ambulance near him. “-so you need to ice shit up pronto!” 

“T-minus  _ what _ ?” Oceanus asks, frantic, but the only reply he gets is static. “Horang-i? Horang-i?????? TIGER, DO YOU COPY?????”

No answer. Fuck.

He glances out at the gap in the line, and it suddenly looks a lot wider than before, the liquidy bridge in the gap spanning less than half of it. Seokmin inhales once, then exhales again. Pushes the looming threat of death to him and probably everyone in the oncoming train to the back of this mind. From far, far below his feet, water begins gushing forth from the crack, around the disconnected pillar and up to Oceanus, awaiting his command. 

His fingers tremble as he mirrors the lifting motion, and some of the water splashes to the ground. No matter. He summons more from deep beneath the earth, feels it wrestle with his soul for control. 

He’s about halfway done when there’s a rumbling on the track behind him, and he turns to see a train heading in his direction about a minute away. It’s one of the longer models - meaning more carriages, and a longer time he’ll have to hold up the bridge.

He summons more water faster, pulling it from the drains, from the nearby houses, pooling it all together in his effort to repair the train line. 

“OCEANUS!” Someone’s yelling from below, and really shouldn’t allow distractions, but he glances down to see that a small crowd has formed, yelling encouragements. 

The last of the water he needs makes its way up, and Oceanus shapes it into the form of a makeshift rail, before he suddenly realises how loud the rumbling from the track behind him is. The metal of the rails clang as the train speeds along it.

“Shit, shit shit shit-” he mumbles under his breath. Shaking, he kneels before the water, willing it to solidify under his touch. To his surprise, it obeys, ice spreading from the points under his fingertips into the rest of the makeshift track. Not fast enough, though, if his estimations are correct - the rumbling getting louder and louder. 

His fingers are trembling as he pushes more energy into the water, watching it get colder faster. In his mind’s eye, he pictures rows and rows of orderly molecules, all slotting into place, and the water does as he wills it to, white ice glinting under the April sun. 

For a second, his concentration slips as the tracks vibrate under his feet, and the water furthest from him splashes a little onto the concrete. Heart pulsing, Seokmin wills it back into place, forcing frost to spread onto the water faster and faster and faster and faster- 

His hands are shaking and black spots gather in his vision, but he stays there, in his awkward position, thoughts rushing with the speed of the train behind him. 

The rumbling gets louder, and he hears a voice from below cry, “OCEANUS!” just as the last of the ice solidifies and he flings himself off the rail, out of the way of the train that misses him by a hair. The ground rushes at him, concrete getting nearer and nearer, until-

A furry mass slams into the side of his body and cushions the blow with orange fur, and Seokmin rolls over, back to the ground. Above him is a familiar tiger face, Soonyoung’s whiskers brushing his cheeks.

“Oh my god.” He sweeps Seokmin into a desperate embrace. “I thought you were gonna get hit by a fuckin’ train, man, never fucking do that again-”

Seokmin pats his back, breathless. “You’re crushing my ribs, let goooo-”

When Soonyoung finally lets him breathe, Seokmin takes a second to look at his surroundings. Water has mainly stopped expelling from the crack in the floor, and a few civilians have gathered at the scene, coming out of their houses and the nearby train station to see what was going on. There’s three police cars, and a pair of ambulances waiting for their paramedics to come back. 

And, of course, above it all - a glacier in the shape of the missing train tracks, ice climbing up the broken pillar to support the structure. 

Seokmin admires it for a second, proud of his work, before Soonyoung catches his attention, pointing into the distance. 

“Is that Chan?”

Seokmin looks. It  _ is _ Chan, laid out on a stretcher, unconscious. A second set of paramedics follow, Mingyu between them, pressing something to the wound at his side.

“Why is he here? He lives all the way in Ruby…” Seokmin trails off as he sees Soonyoung’s guilty face. “What did you do.”

Soonyoung sighs. “Invited him for extra practice on his day off. He said that it was fine! But I guess I shouldn’t have, look at him now.”

The paramedics lift Chan into the ambulance, Mingyu close behind. Minghao, still in full Scorpio gear, watches as they leave. 

Soonyoung’s eyes follow Chan’s ambulance as it gets further away, sirens wailing, and Seokmin nudges him. “Hey, don’t feel so bad - you couldn’t have known.”

This does nothing to alleviate Soonyoung’s guilt, until Seokmin points at a familiar pink duffle bag. 

He nudges Soonyoung. “Isn’t that Chan’s?”

The tiger nods, heading towards it. “Yeah. We should return it when we see him.”

“If you want, we can pass it to him in the hospital - my car’s only a block away, y’know.”

Soonyoung smiles at him, and Seokmin can’t help but smile back.

“That sounds like a great plan.”

* * *

[3:14 pm, Sunday, April 6th, 2XXX. Caratland General Hospital, 1 Hospital Way, Sapphire District, Caratland.]

_ Someone speaks. Through a haze of wooziness and sleepiness, Chan listens.  _

_ “Horang-i, I know you like him, but are you sure?” _

_ A familiar voice. “It’s fine - not like Chan’s a villain. And he’ll never figure out I’m a hero, I’m not that obvious about it.” _

_ “Okay then.” Receding footsteps. _

_ A hand brushing stray strands of hair from his forehead. A mumbled phrase...  _

_ Chan tries to stay awake for longer, but sleep takes hold of him once again. _

[5:28 pm, Sunday, April 6th, 2XXX. Caratland General Hospital, 1 Hospital Way, Sapphire District, Caratland.]

Chan wakes up slowly. Light stains the back of his eyelids pink, and his nostrils are flooded with the sharp tang of antiseptic. His fingers twitch, and beneath them he can feel the rough softness of cotton sheets. Faintly, he can hear the hum of an air-conditioner unit fill the room.

He opens his eyes. He’s in a hospital bed, white sheets spread before him. The walls are a soft green color, and to his left there’s a curtain separating him from the other patient in the room. Slumped in a chair next to him is Seungkwan, head lolling. On the floor at his feet sits Chan’s duffle bag - bloodied and more than a little worse for wear.

To Chan’s right, sitting against a wall is Seokmin, fingers wrapped around his phone and fast asleep. Briefly, Chan wonders what the hell he’s doing here, before he’s distracted by a presence closer to his face. 

Soonyoung’s head and arms are pillowed on the bed beside him, the rest of his body slouched onto the floor and his phone next to Chan’s hand. One of his hands lies slack in Chan’s, the other gripping his wrist as if checking his heart rate. A long time ago, he’d read about how cats feel soothed but their human’s pulse - something about hearing their heartbeat calmed them. Looking at the catlike way he tilts his head up in his sleep, Chan figures that Soonyoung’s touchiness is similar.

(Internally, it makes his heart flutter a little to know that Soonyoung feels more relaxed knowing that he’s alive. Just a little though. A little.)

Chan looks up when he hears the door creak open. It’s Hansol, clad in his receptionist getup. Seungkwan rouses as Hansol enters, making a ‘come here’ gesture to his boyfriend. 

Hansol complies, bending over and letting Seungkwan straighten the collar of his button-up. Chan faintly recognises it as something poached from his own wardrobe, a faded blue piece with deep breast pockets. 

“You took a while,” Seungkwan mumbles quietly. “I fell asleep.”

Hansol hums. “I know, I saw. I ran into this guy at the lobby - I think he’s the other hero. Y’know, the one that didn’t get stabbed.”

“How was it?”

“He looked stressed. He’s also in the ward beside this one, so.” Hansol pauses, before asking quietly. “How’s Chan?”

“Awake,” Chan croaks, voice rough with dehydration. “What happened?”

Seungkwan tenses imperceptibly, startled by the sound of his voice, before rushing to his side. The smile on his lips is bitter, but he looks glad to have Chan awake. “You were caught in an attack, Channie. Your bag was snatched, and the heroes chasing the culprit with you somehow managed to run into Chimera too.”

Chan’s eyes widen. “Chimera? But that’s-”

“I know.” There’s something in Seungkwan’s eyes, a firey light that would scare anyone else, but makes Chan feel more like a cub under the protection of a grizzly bear. 

Hansol presses a hand softly to his forehead, and Chan belatedly realises that there’s a layer of gauze wrapped around his head. “The doctor said you might have a concussion - a lot of Wraith’s victims get them. So if you feel any nausea, any dizziness, you need to tell us immediately.”

“Shouldn’t a proper medical professional be telling me this?” Chan teases, but Hansol just rolls his eyes. 

“I’m the front-desk receptionist here, Channie. Don’t you know this means I’m the  _ ultimate _ professional here?”

They hold eye contact for a second, before bursting into laughter that makes Chan’s head throb. Seungkwan shushes them, and Soonyoung wakes up. 

“Whurg,” he mumbles unintelligibly, before appearing to come to his senses. “Chan! Oh my god, how are you? I was so scared when I saw you there - are you feeling better? Any dizziness?? Do you even remember who I am???” 

Chan laughs, which sends a wave of dizziness washing over him. “Soonyoung, calm down, of course I remember you.”

Hansol squints at them for a second before smirking, pulling Seungkwan up with him. “Come on, Kwan, let’s leave them to talk for a bit.”

Seungkwan glances at Soonyoung, before sending Chan a pointed I-know-what’s-going-on-here look (meaning  _ we’ll talk about this later _ ) and leaving. 

Soonyoung releases his wrist. “Sorry, was I gripping too tight? I have a tendency to cling-”

“I know,” Chan interrupts. “Don’t worry. Hansol says I’ve probably got a concussion - hence, dizziness.”

“Hansol’s your..?”

“Roommate, best friend, brother, occasional nuisance. Seungkwan’s the cuter one - but I suppose you talked to them earlier, being in the same room and stuff.”

Soonyoung shakes his head sheepishly. “Nah, I fell asleep before he arrived… must have been weird for him to visit you in the hospital only to find some weirdo sleeping next to him.”

Chan smiles. “It’s fine. I’ve shown him photos of you before, videos from practice, so he knows who you are. How did you know I was here?”

“UH.” Soonyoung blurts out. “I- uh- the hospital called me?”

Chan raises a suspicious eyebrow. “You’re not listed as an emergency contact for me.”

“I mean, uh, I was...in the area during the attack! Yeah, I saw it and stuff, you know? As a civilian! Obviously. It’s not like I’m a hero or anything, ha ha ha...”

A faint memory from a few hours before. The ghost sensation of a hand brushing hair from his forehead. A voice...Soonyoung’s voice. “Are you sure about that last one?” Chan smirks, puzzle pieces slotting together in his mind.

“Absolutely!”

“You don’t sound too sure about that.”

“I am!”

On the bed, Soonyoung’s phone starts buzzing with the vibrations of an incoming call. Soonyoung and Chan hold eye contact for a hot second, before simultaneously lunging for it. Chan wins, mostly because he’s closer to the object, and he holds it up, exposing the caller ID.

_ INCOMING CALL FROM: _

_ Hero HQ Office _

Soonyoung pales rapidly. Chan quirks an eyebrow at him.

“What’s this, then?”

“Uh. An accidental call? Maybe they’ve got the wrong number.”

The call goes to voicemail, but a few seconds later what is obviously Hero HQ calls back again. 

Chan sighs, handing the phone back. “Just pick up. Might be important.”

Soonyoung picks up, and Chan watches him slip into a professional tone and attitude, speaking rapidly to someone on the other end about what Chan assumes is the attack he was in. He catches something about paperwork and an upcoming meeting and  _ where is Oceanus? _ , to which Soonyoung answers with  _ Uhhhhhhhhhhhh around _ , and something about an upcoming meeting. 

When he hangs up, Chan is looking at him expectantly. 

“So. Horang-i? He’s the only hero who matches with your power…”

Soonyoung opens his mouth to protest, but Chan interrupts. 

“You can't lie to me! I'm lying in a hospital bed after nearly perishing, don't even think about it.”

“ _ You only have a mild concussion, _ ” Soonyoung mumbles, but Chan’s already got an argument fired up.

“You can’t lie to me! It makes sense : Horang-i’s been around for coming up on six years now, and you’re 26 - if you were a hero you’d graduate into the HQ at 20 from the hero course, 26 minus 20 is 6 - the numbers add up! And you said your power is Feline, right? Something about being able to shift into any kind of cat… just like Horang-i’s Cat power! He just tends to shift into a tiger, but he’s shown that he can shift into other felines, like a cheetah.”

Soonyoung swallows, and Chan’s eyes follow the bob of his adam’s apple. “It’s just a coincidence, Chan - there’s no way I could be a hero!”

“Also, I woke up just now and heard someone call you Horang-i.”

Soonyoung freezes. Chan smiles, patting his hand. “Don’t worry, Soon, I won’t tell anyone - as long as you tell me about some of the stuff you get up to! Hey, you can start with what happened today if you can’t think of any.”

“There’s no fooling you, is there?” Horang-i, The Jewel Tiger of Opal City sighs, defeated at the hands of a bedridden dancer, and begins to recount what happened.

Chan smiles, smug that he’s figured out the truth, before settling down to listen.

* * *

[4:13 am, Monday, April 7th, 2XXX. A hut at the outskirts of Ametrine Forest, Amethyst District, Caratland.]

Junhui and Jihoon have been waiting for nearly 15 minutes when VENGEANCE finally turns up. They enter just as they have every meeting they’ve had together - late, firstly, and with their de-facto spokesperson Ascension leading the way. Abyss trails after him, face covered up to his eyebags by a black mask. In all the three years that they’ve worked together, Junhui has never seen any more of his face. 

Ascension perches himself at the table, opposite Jihoon and before Junhui, lounging against a table with paper scattered across it. Abyss stands behind him, a bodyguard looming over the brighter villain’s shoulder. Junhui can see why they overtook him and Jihoon in the villain rankings - even at a meeting with (admittedly on-and-off) allies, they radiate a certain predatory aura that makes it hard not to be intimidated. If he squints, Junhui can imagine black shadow rolling off Abyss, like a cartoon character, and blinding light radiating from Ascension, like the sun when stared at for too long. It’s been three years, and VENGEANCE is still scarier that Junhui would like them to be.

Jihoon clears his throat. “You’re late, Seungkwan-ah.”

It’s been three years working with Seungkwan and his unnamed partner, and still Junhui knows nothing about either of them.

Ascension -  _ Seungkwan  _ \- purses his lips. “We ran into some technical issues, your hideout is too far off the map.”

“Again with the same excuse? You’d think that after all this time as allies, the  _ top ranked _ villain group would have overcome something so minor.”

Ascension smirks. “You’d think that after all this time, you would have gotten over the fact that we’re better than you.” 

JIhoon smiles back. In Jun’s head, he’s a taipan snake : smooth and cute and unassuming, all soft scales and round eyes - until you step on his tail.

“Oh, but - Seungkwan-ah, we’re the ones with vital information, aren’t we? And we’re the ones whose call you answered so suddenly.”

“That just means that  _ you _ need  _ our _ help.” If Jihoon is a snake, Ascension is a peregrine falcon - ethereal and overawing, someone you can’t look in the eye easily. Also, they eat snakes.

Jihoon scowls, and Junhui meets Abyss’ eyes. He seems to glare back, so Junhui quickly focuses back on Jihoon and Ascension's discussion.

“Well, the information we called you here for might interest you more than you think.”

“Spit it out, then. We haven’t got all day here.”

Jihoon extends a hand, and Junhui docilly places the stolen pack of information in his hand. He knows that, during these meetings, he’s not Jihoon’s equal but his goon, in the same way that Abyss is just Ascension’s security guard.

Jihoon begins to explain the situation, opening the manila folder at the top of the stack. “Around a week ago, Phantom infiltrated the Hero HQ - we suspected they were up to something,” (Lies. Junhui was just bored) “And we were not disappointed. He overheard a conversation between Champion and one of their Directors, Han Seongsoo. While testing a new piece of equipment, the Director nearly put Champion through a wall - not an easy feat, as we all know.” 

The assembled villains share a moment of silence for all the close-range battles they’ve had with the Strength Hero, before Jihoon continues. “It’s because the new tech they’ve developed is something the underground can only dream of - a power amplifier.”

Ascension’s eyes widen so slightly that Junhui almost misses the action, before coolness slides over his expression again. “I see.”

Jihoon hands over the envelope, and Ascension mulls over its contents for a while. Jihoon keeps talking. “Phantom went back into the HQ on the 4th and the 5th, taking not just the designs you hold but also what their plans for it are. I won’t go into the details, because a lot of it banks on the results of a meeting that they’re holding at their HQ on the 9th. Phantom will be going in then, so we should probably make plans to meet again after that.”

Ascension hums. “I hate to admit it, but you’re right. Something like this… shouldn’t end up in the hands of the Hero HQ and its little worker ants. It’ll only further delude people into thinking that the heroes are all-powerful - but we’re not here to talk politics. What are your plans for the amplifier?”

“Once we have it, we can probably alternate the use of it between you guys and us.”

Ascension leans back in his chair. “But what’s in it for us? We could break in and take it ourselves… make it a whole event. We don’t need you to help us.”

Silence. Then Junhui speaks up, surprising both the villains at the table and himself. “Because, although wrecking the Hero HQ would send a message, that’s not what you want. Your ideology’s always been that heroes and their shows of power are just propaganda for the HQ - to make people believe that heroes are invincible and will always save them; lull them into some false sense of invulnerability. Destroying HQ would send a message - by destroying their base of power you’d certainly send the message that they’re nothing. But at the same time, you don’t want to send the country into chaos by taking away the peoples’ safety blanket. Wanting people to stop, ah, hero-worshipping the heroes is different from wanting them to feel powerless and causing a nation-wide panic.”

A beat. Then, Ascension’s lips turn upwards, round eyes seeming to stare into Junhui’s soul. “Phantom - Ah, Junhui, was it? - Why aren’t  _ you _ the one speaking to me in meetings instead of Wraith here? You’ve got such an interesting view… I’d sure love to hear you speak up more.”

In Junhui’s opinion, the smile Ascension shoots him has entirely too many teeth, but he slides on a mask of impassivity to respond.

“I prefer to leave the talking to Wraith - he’s sharper than I am.”

“Hmm.” Ascension seems somewhat dissatisfied by his answer, but he turns back towards Jihoon. “I heard about your attack yesterday - against First Responders? Though when Horang-i and Oceanus appeared I hear you were quite thoroughly trashed.”

Jihoon scowls. “That was a miscalculation. We thought that bringing civilians into the mix would hinder the heroes more - but we didn’t bank on the literal 4th-ranked hero turning up during our, ah, social experiment.”

Ascension’s gaze seems to get sharper. “An experiment? And why on that boy specifically?”

“He wasn’t a targeted choice - it was the girl. Yuna was in a bad spot with some sharks, and this was her repayment after I helped her. All she had to do was get the heroes’ attention, then lead them to us. The boy was a variable we didn’t consider in the hypothesis; his appearance made the heroes more fired up. Why are you so concerned about this boy, anyways?” 

Chan, Junhui remembers. It was a shock to see his colleague (friend?) appear in the alley, and Junhui did feel bad that he had to be knocked out.

Ascension smiles. “Nothing. I was just interested.”

Jihoon narrows his eyes, but before he can say anything Ascension speaks again. “I also hear that you’ve located Revenant. How is he?”

“Fine,” Jihoon says tersely. “But that’s none of your concern.”

“Aww,” Ascension’s eyes glimmer with what Junhui hopes is just curiosity. “I thought we were  _ allies _ .”

Jihoon looks like he’s on the verge of saying something he'll regret, but he takes a calming breath before speaking again.

“If you’ve got nothing to contribute, we can adjourn this meeting.”

“You’re no fun,” Ascension teases, rising. “I’m starting as a night guard at the hero HQ tomorrow - a stroke of good luck. I can run backup for Junhui when he comes on the 9th.”

Jihoon nods, and Ascension smiles. 

“I’ll see you on the 9th, then.”

He joins hands with Abyss, and they melt into the shadows behind them, ignoring the door that they came through. 

Outside, there is a rustling - someone moving through the fields of tall grass that surround the hut.

Jihoon smiles. “I wonder if they’ve figured out we know their trick - Abyss can’t travel that far, they’ve just shadow-travelled to right outside the house.”

The rustling gets softer as VENGEANCE makes their way away from the hut.

Junhui takes Ascension’s recently vacated seat. “Ah, they’re so scary… It doesn’t help that we know nothing about Abyss!”

Jihoon hums. “It is unfair… but what was up with the boy?”

“Chan?”

“Yeah, your colleague - they seemed pretty interested.”

Junhui shrugs. “I don’t know, but I can try and find out.”

Jihoon smiles. “Thanks. And be careful.”

“I always am.”

* * *

[ㅇ:ㅇㅇ ㅇm, ㅇday, April ㅇth, 2XXX. ㅇㅇㅇ, ㅇㅇ, ㅇ District, Caratland.]

_ “GO!” Someone’s yelling, and Chan turns tail, heading for the exit- _

_ Searing pain at the small of his back, all his nerves are on fire, black spots dance in his vision like shadows, mocking him, telling him, Lee Chan, you will never escape the- _

_ He hits the ground, and slips into his greatest nightmare. _

Chan wakes up. Was that what happened during the attack?

He remembers. Shadows on the ground, things coming to pieces with the touch of a hand. Blood up to his chin, splattering on the ground, it’s in his eyes, in his nose, his lungs-

He curls up in bed and tries not to drown.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im really bad at action scenes,,, sorry  
> -  
> come find me on twt!  
> @pwtrichwr

**Author's Note:**

> actually though the first chapter is just exposition ???? like the actual plot will come Later sorry
> 
> \----
> 
> find me on twitter ! @pwtrichwr


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